Bittersweet - TADASHIxREADER
by tadashiswife
Summary: [TADASHI X READER ] When you started working at Lucky Cat Cafe, you expected sweet things. Sweet food. Sweet aroma. But not a sweet guy, who was taken, that you were head over heels with.
1. How To Bake a Cake 101

**01. How To Bake A Cake 101**

* * *

><p>"Ah, this résumé is amazing! You're hired, you can call me Aunt Cass!" The woman exclaimed, putting the paper on her lap and reaching over the desk to shake her hand.<p>

You firmly shook it, and gave her a big smile. Your résumé didn't even take much, and you weren't really planning to work here long, you just needed the extra money for your family.

"You can start working on Sunday, which is. ." She twisted her chair around and looked at the cat calendar behind her. "Tomorrow! I'll have your apron by them. Okay, [Y/N]?"

"Yes, Aunt Cass!" You replied, eagerly. Your [h/c] hair was in a braid, and your cheeks were a bit rosy out of pure mirth.

Aunt Cass clapped her hand, and stood up. "I'll give you a few cookies, and a cake to welcome you. Yeah?" She offered, walking off already.

You followed close behind her out of the office, your eyes wide and so was your lips.

Just then, while distracted by your thoughts, you bumped into someone. You fell to the ground with a _thud_, and the person turned around quickly. There was a tray in their hands, and they had a baseball on. He was much taller than you.

"Oh!" He placed the tray on the counter. "Sorry!" He put his hand out for you, which you gladly took.

"Are you the new worker?" He asked, while you dusted your thighs and butt.

You nodded your head, finally looking at him. His appearance instantly struck you, his chocolate brown eyes, barely combed to the side black hair, height, broad shoulders, just everything. A corner of his lips curled up when he eyed you, and he did the same as Aunt Cass, stuck his hand out for you to shake.

You looked at it for a moment then took it, feeling his warmth.

"I'm Tadashi Hamada, Aunt Cass is well, my aunt." He laughed, letting go of your hand and picking up the tray.

"I'm [Y/N] [Y/L/N]. And that's nice, always must be eating sweets." You joked.

Before he could respond, Aunt Cass came back over with a decorative box, and a bag on top of it. She placed it in your hand carefully.

"Oh, I see you met Tadashi! A great baby boy," she tippy-toed and pinched his cheek.

Tadashi blushed lightly, and chuckled while Aunt Cass walked away. "My little brother and I are still her babies, though I'm an adult and Hiro is 14." He gave out a quiet tsk.

You giggled, and started walking off.

"It was great meeting you, [Y/N]. I'll see you soon!" He called out, right before you walked out.

* * *

><p>The second you arrived home, you kicked the door shut and screamed out, "Sweets!"<p>

Two little kids came rushing down the hall, along with your parents. They all greeted you, and your mom took the box and bag from your hands.

"How much did it cost?" Your dad questioned, going into the small kitchen together.

"Actually, complimentary from my new boss." You sang, sliding closer to the table, watching your mom cut the chocolate cake and your younger siblings taking out the cookies from the bag and placing them on the table. "Hey, put those on plates! That's not very clean!" You lectured, pulling out plates from the cabinet behind you.

"You're sister's right, Danny." Your mom agreed, putting a small slice on the four plates. Then she closed the box and put it in the fridge. You took the cookies from the table and placed it next to the slice of cake.

Everyone sat down, and begun eating right away.

"That's good, you working." Your dad said.

"I know, and I went down there a couple of times. There is this handsome young man that works there sometimes." Your mom mentioned, smirking at you.

Your dad lifted up his fork, a piece of cake that was on it fell back onto the plate. "Hey, no boys until you're done with college." He warned, glaring at you.

You lightly laughed, and took a big bite out of the cake. It was absolutely delicious, and you were very grateful for it. Your family usually couldn't spend money on sweets, too busy on bills and other more important things.

"[Y/N]," your mom winked at you. "No boys until we at least meet them."

Danny grinned and eyed your cookie. He had finished his all, some crumbs still on his lips.

You picked it up and waved it in front of him, slowly bringing it to your mouth.

Just then, your other sibling jumped up. "Oh, [Y/N], can I have?" She requested, lips pouting. Now, Danny was pleading was his cute puppy eyes. Both of them were begging, and their eyes never failed you. They were adopted, together.

You sighed and broke your cookie in half, handing one to each of them.

"You should thank [Y/N]. Be kind, and Lilly, eat your cake all first." Your mom told them, a scowl on her face.

They did as told, grinning wide. Coincidentally, they both had a gap at their two front teeth. "Thanks, [Y/N]!"

You simply smiled, and finished up your slice.

* * *

><p>"Oh, no!" You shouted, seeing that you had woken up late the next morning. You forgot to turn on your alarm clock, and was woken up by the smell of bacon actually.<p>

"You okay, honey?" You heard your mom asked from down the hall. You didn't live in a two-story house, well not anymore.

You got up as fast as you could and ran to the bathroom. Within thirty minutes, you were showered, dressed, and ready.

As you rushed by the kitchen, Danny poked his head out by the doorway.

"Eating?"

"No, I have to go fast." You answered, slipping on your sneakers.

Your mom was behind Danny, with a full plate on her hand. "I'll just pack these for you, yeah?"

You nodded your head, and went to grab your jacket from the coat rack. You were as later than late, it was almost 11. You were suppose to be there by 9 to help prepare.

Soon, your mom handed you your lunch bag, and some money.

"I don't need the money, mom." You said, handing it back to her.

She shook her head, "No! Just in case, okay? And if you still have more later, I will take it back." She pushed you out the opened door onto the porch. "Good luck, honey!" Then she shut the door and locked it.

You went onto your moped and sped your way through the streets.

When you reached the cafe, you noticed how busy it was. There were people sitting around and lining up, ordering food with a very patient Aunt Cass. Once she saw you, she waved her hand and told you to put your stuff in her office, and that your apron was in there.

"I am so sorry for being late." You whispered while pasting by her in a hurry.

In the office, there was a white apron, with the maneki-neko printed on the front. Below that print was in capital letters "THE LUCKY CAT CAFE!"  
>You quickly put it on and tied it tightly in the back, tying your hair up.<p>

"Oh, jeez!" Someone muttered, realizing you were in there once they entered. You recognized the voice straightaway and turned around.

"Tadashi?" You gasped, covering your chest even though you were fully dress. Then you started laughing and relaxed. He was laughing too.

"I felt like I should work today for a little to help you and get to know you better. But I got to leave to go back to the lab soon." Tadashi explained, scratching the back of his head.

You felt your cheeks get warm, and you blinked a few times.

"You're a scientist?" You inquired, getting closer to him, yet still keeping the distance.

"Well, robotics engineer and inventor actually." He had a proud grin. "I go to SFIT." Then, he grabbed the bill of his cap and tugged it down so you can see the logo better.

"I go there too! I major in creative writing, and medicine." You reported.

"Ah, the lovesick type of person?"

Aunt Cass knocked on the door, "Guys, it's getting busy! Tadashi, teach [Y/N] the basics." She ordered. You heard how loud and busy it was outside.

"Is it always this busy?"

"Always on a Sunday. That's a family, celebration day. Sometimes they're lazy Sundays, though." Tadashi explained, opening the door and holding it opened until you went out. The two of you went into the kitchen, and he pulled out some batter and all the other ingredients.

"Ah, how do you spend lazy Sundays?" You asked out of curiosity, watching him as he started working.

"With my girlfriend, sometimes."

You were taken back, and bit the inside of your cheek. "Girlfriend?" You beseeched, raising your eyebrows.

He glanced up. "You know how to bake a cake?" He opened took some eggs out from the egg tray. "And yeah, she's mostly in the lab. She'll come by some time, you'll meet her then."

"Yes, I know how to bake a cake." You informed, moving away from the other topic.

He pulled up a bag of flour, then dusted his hands off on his apron. And even though you told him you knew how to bake a cake, he still went through the process with you.

"Look," you were getting bored 3/4th in. You dipped your two fingers from each hand in the flour bag, brought it up and striped each cheek. "I'm a athlete." And you flashed an aggressive expression, flexing your arms.

Tadashi laughed, "Were you getting bored? You look so funny." He croaked, still laughing in between sentences. "Oh my gosh."

You weren't really expecting that much of a reaction, and starting laughing too.

"Man, I like you. You're hilarious." He stated, calming down.

Your face was really red now, you felt the heat. To cover it up, you stuck your two hands in the flour and patted your face.

Tadashi was laughing hard now, his hand clenching his abdomen. You looked stupid, and you were sure you were going to get fired if Aunt Cass saw you like this.

"Guys, you okay in there?" Aunt Cass called from the cash register, which wasn't far from the kitchen.

You stopped moving, and so did Tadashi, he was suppressing the laughter.

"Yes, Aunt Cass!" He grabbed your hand and brought you over to the sink. "Let's get you cleaned up!" He exclaimed in a hush voice.

This day, your first day working has barely started, and you were already enjoying.

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT: Please review on who you believe should be his girlfriend? GoGo, Honey Lemon, or my own OC? (Do not worry about my OC being very out of character to be dating Tadashi, I will do my best to make it reasonable.)<strong>

* * *

><p>Check out my other fan-fiction (another Tadashi x Reader)! It's called 'The Sort of Funny Story about Us'! Both of these stories can also be found at Quotev.<p>

Feedback, please!


	2. Burnt Cake

**02. Burnt Batter**

* * *

><p>Literally, no metaphor involved. No literary devices.<p>

"Snap!" Tadashi hissed, throwing the circular tray with burnt batter on the counter.

You took in a deep breath, hands covering your opened mouth.

After you got washed up, Aunt Cass came in to check on you guys. When she was gone, you and Tadashi got started with baking the cake right away. With possibly a little fun here and there.

"I'm done," Tadashi wearied, running his hand down his face.

You sighed, then snapped your fingers. Tadashi watched you as you picked up the tray, and a spatula. You scooped out the burnt cake, the pieces falling into the trash.

When you were done, you swiped your hands against each other a couple of times.

"Don't get too worked up over it. We just got to try again, yeah?" You stared at him, the left side of your mouth turning up slightly.

He chuckled, took off his cap, ruffled his hair and put it back on. "Yeah. Beside, this might not even go on the shelf, she just wants to see where you stand in baking. When she said basics, she meant the skills you got to have." Tadashi explained, pulling out the bowl and all again.

"What?" You groaned, and slumped back. "Well she'll see the black scraps in the trash and know how unskilled I am!"

Tadashi went over to you, and gently slapped your right cheek, his lips doing the same thing as yours from before. Going up on one corner.

"Don't say that, you just try again, right? She's a patient person."

"You're right!" A determined look on your face begun to form.

* * *

><p>It took two attempts, and the second time, Tadashi was called out to help Aunt Cass. He came back, but by then your cake had a few eggshells visible at the top. So he aided you the third time, and it came out correctly.<p>

"Voilà!" You jumped up in exhilaration. "This is amazing!" You rejoiced, admiring the simple yellow cake.

Tadashi chuckled, and patted your back. "Good job, [Y/N]." He went over to get the frosting and sprinklings.

He dropped them in front of you, and when you gave him a puzzled look, he returned the expression by lifting an eyebrow.

"Oh, please tell me you know how to ice a cake, and decorate it on a decent level?" He inquired.

You scratched your cheek, and your mouth tuckered over to the side. "Eh. ." You dragged out.

"We're done then." He sulked in such a comical way, you started to laugh.

"I have the artistic skill of Picasso." You stated, you were trying to say it in a joking way though you really weren't. Your art skill was okay, you doodles but small flowers and stick figures.

"Okay, well we got to let this cool down for a little anyways. And," Tadashi checked his phone, "I have to leave to the lab now."

You made a strange noise in despair.

"What? I have work to do, and so do you." He told you, going over to the sink.

"So, do I just give this to Aunt Cass? Can I just ice it now and hide in the closet?" You begged.

He dried his hands, and walked over to you with a serious face.

"I knew you'd be lost, so here give me your number."

That was the quickest, easiest time, maybe even the first a boy had ever asked for your number. It was in a platonic way, of course.

You gave him your number, and he saved it to his phone.

"I will call you in ten minutes, prepare." He was already moving to the door. "When I call you, that means you will ice the cake and write anything on it, something to give to Aunt Cass. The rest of your employment will depend on this."

You whimpered, bending down and laying your head on the metal surface. You were pretty sure you were going to lose your job.

* * *

><p>In the end, with Tadashi instructing you through the phone, the cake came out acceptable. With white icing, and pink words that said <em><span>THANK YOU, AUNT CASS!<span>_ A sloppy heart by it.

"It's going to get eaten anyways." You whispered to yourself, taking out your phone and taking a couple of pictures of the cake.

"[Y/N]?" Aunt Cass called out, it was about 5 in the afternoon, closing time on a Sunday. You spent just about the whole day in the kitchen.

"Yes?"

Aunt Cass entered the kitchen, a yellow frosting stain on her apron that was not previously there. Without a word, she came to you and inspected the cake. Then she slid her finger along the frosting it, sticking it in her mouth.

"This is good!" She exclaimed, picking it up with a smile.

You exhaled a deep breath out of relief, and looked up at the bright lights. She left the kitchen, and after you washed your hand, you went out too.

She was packaging some pastries in the decorative box again, and was going to walk back into the kitchen until she saw you.

"Oh! This is for you and your family, alright?" She placed it by the cash register, and looked at her watch. "It's time to go home anyways, how did you like your day?"

The two of you walked to the office, except she only held the door and you only went in.

"It was," you recalled Tadashi's laughter and the flour on the floor. "Great." A grin appeared on your face, as you hung up your apron.

"What was that, [Y/N]?" You were muttering, and Aunt Cass was further away from the door now, still holding it opened with her foot.

You picked up your full lunch back, you had forgotten to eat all day.

"I said it was absolutely amazing." You rephrased, walking out of the room.

Aunt Cass giggled, and handed you your box. "I'm sure it was. Tadashi is a good person, isn't he? Had so much homework to do, and still stayed here." She reported, shaking her head a little.

"Really?" You tucked into your head a reminder to thank him later.

"Really. Well, I got to clean up. You'll start doing this with me soon!" She was waving her hand, though you weren't even close to the door yet.

Finally, when you reached the door, you waved your hand and said goodbye.

* * *

><p>Your home was awfully quiet, no sound of kids or parents. No toy echoing the house, not even the T.V was on. You were a bit scared, an eerie feeling creeping on you slowly.<p>

"Mom? Dad?" You put the box and lunch bag on the kitchen table, turning on all the lights. You carefully checked all the rooms, and saw no sign of them.

Again, you called them out, only this time, you heard a thump from the roof.

You cussed under your breath, and went outside, looking up.

There your mom and dad was, cleaning the gutters. Your mom had a phone between her ear and shoulder, and your dad was grunting to himself.

"Guys!" You shouted, making them both jump a little.

"Oh, hey, angel!" Your mom always called you that when she was in a very good mood.

"Where is Danny and Lilly?" You asked, covering your eyes due to the sunlight.

Your dad climbed down the ladder, taking off his gloves.

"Let's go inside, your mom is really enjoying this dirty work," he pushed you back the back and the two of you went back inside. "Danny and Lilly are playing with the neighbor's kid."

Soon, your mom came in and she threw her gloves to the floor, putting her phone in her pocket.

"Ah, I see that box right there!" Your mom kissed you on the cheek really quick and went over to the box. "Your boss is a nice woman, did you pay for it this time?"

Before you could reply, you remember that you had to thank Tadashi.

"Hold up, Mom, I'll be right back." You took out your phone and went to your room.

Once you called Tadashi, the phone rang for a long time and you hung up. You threw your phone onto your bed, and exited the room, without known Tadashi called you right back.

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT: Please comment on who you believe should be his girlfriend? GoGo, Honey Lemon, or my own OC? (Do not worry about my OC being very out of character to be dating Tadashi, I will do my best to make it reasonable.) I am introducing her very soon! <strong>


	3. Ticking Timer

**03. Ticking Timer**

* * *

><p>After dinner, and another great dessert, you helped your mom clean up.<p>

"How's that handsome young man? What's his name again?"

You glanced at your mom and started laughing. "His name is Tadashi Hamada, Mom, and he's taken." You informed her, hoping she wouldn't get anymore ideas.

Your mom was always young at heart, and your dad use to tell you stories of that side of her.

"Oh, taken fakin' bacon! Your dad was taken when I first met him, now look at is." She said, wiping the table after you sprayed it.

You tittered, and went over to the leftovers, and wrapped it up.

"I haven't even met her, maybe she's a good person." You told her, tying up your hair and turning on the water to wash your hand. Tadashi hasn't even told you her name yet.

Your mom rolled her eyes, and put away the leftovers in the fridge. Then she patted your back, "I'm just kidding, angel. Do what's right okay?" She kissed your cheek and went out of the kitchen.

When you were done, you poured yourself some juice and went back to your room. You had homework to do, which was only to read another student's poem and advise it. It wasn't going to take long.

You pushed your phone aside, and took out your homework.

While you were working, your phone rang and you picked it up without looking, too focused on the notebook in front of you.

"Hello?" You muttered.

"[Y/N]?"

You stopped your writing, and looked up from the notebook. "Tadashi?" Then you remembered calling him earlier. You slapped your forehead in remembrance, forgetting about the pen in your hand. The pen dropped and landed tip down onto your white bed sheets. You groaned loudly, and kicked your feet in frustration. The notebook flew up and landed on the floor. You groaned even louder.

"Whoa, you okay?" Tadashi questioned.

You sighed and capped the pen. "Yeah," you bent down and picked up the notebook. "I just called you earlier to say thank you, I didn't know you had homework to do. Thank you."

"Oh, it's fine! Honestly," he chuckled, "I just needed a reason to not do homework."

Screaming and shouting from the living room could be heard, and you went to shut the door before replying.

"Well then," you responded sassily, returning back to do your homework. "But thank you, anyways, you didn't need to." You ended up saying after a few moments of awkward silence.

This time, Tadashi laughed.

"Yes, I needed to! You would have lost your job if I weren't there today!" You could feel him smirking.

"You're right." You admitted, now paying attention more to your homework.

"But, you're welcome, [Y/N]," there was a pause in his breath, "I hope to see you around campus, you aren't working tomorrow, are you?" He questioned.

You counted the hours you worked today, and then recalled that Aunt Cass never informed you of your work schedule.

"Oh my gosh, can you ask Aunt Cass if I work tomorrow?" You embarrassedly adjure.

"Okay, be right back." Then he was off to ask.

During the time, you finished up your homework, and put it away neatly into your bag. He still wasn't back by then yet.

Eventually, you hung up and decided to not waste your battery life. Twenty minutes had past, and the only sounds you were hearing was some shuffling around and an occasional cat meow.

Your dad knocked on your open door, and walked over to you once you looked at him.

"You don't talk to a lot of people on the phone, who was that?" It wasn't meant to be rude, you really didn't spend much time socializing. You only had one goal in life, and it didn't involve creating friendships.

"A guy from work, I was thanking him." You answered, holding the phone in your hand.

"I'd like to meet him, Mom won't shush about him. Is he cute?" It sounded so weird to hear your dad say it, and you exploded into laughter.

"He's okay!" You croaked, trying to calm down.

"Invite him over to dinner, I want to judge him myself." You dad grinned, and the corner of his eyes crinkled.

"You'll tell him your dumb jokes and make him uncomfortable." You giggled.

While growing up you noticed that was how your dad greeted anyone he met. He cracked a corny joke and laughed to himself, your mom said that was what happened the first time they met and she didn't laugh at his joke at all.

Your dad went over to your bed, and sat on it. The bed weighed down and creaked.

"Do you like him?"

"I barely know him! And he's taken!" You ranted, hands closing into a fist.

"Really? Well, I was taken when I first met your mom. Luck is a crazy thing." He insisted, standing up.

You rolled your eyes and fell back onto your pillows dramatically. Just like a sixteen year old girl.

Your dad chuckled and gave you a quick grip on the shoulder and started going to the door.

It was starting to get close to your scheduled sleep time, so you got up and grabbed the towel at your footboard. You were going to wash you face and brush your teeth, then go to bed.

As you walked to the door, your dad moved aside for you to get past him, "Make sure to invite him! And his family too!" He hollered, before you went into the bathroom.

You stood in front of the sink, and looked at yourself in the mirror with guilt. You weren't planning to invite the Hamada family over anytime soon for dinner, and unfortunately it was because you were ashamed of your life. Your family were near broke, parents stuck in debt and your family even struggled to buy gifts for each other last Christmas.

Then, the Hamada family owned their own small business. But it was something, your mom worked double shifts and your dad had trouble keeping up his career as a journalist.

You just didn't want to do that to your family. You imagined them getting to know each other at the dinner table and Aunt Cass will talk about her business, while your mom would feel disappointed in herself.

That situation seemed too much for you to handle, it would be a burden.

You sighed and rinsed your face, and started brushing your teeth. 

* * *

><p>You ended up getting a call at 2 in the morning from Tadashi.<p>

"What do you want?" You asked crankily, propping yourself up with one elbow, eyes barely opened.

"I was just finishing up homework, and I just remembered to tell you what Aunt Cass said!"

You didn't say anything, annoyance came to you and you plopped back down.

Tadashi apologized a few times before telling you, "She said that since you're part time, just come in on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday." He informed you.

"Okay, thank you." Your eyes were slowly closing. You weren't going to work today, so you hoped to sleep in.

"Wait, before you fall asleep,"

Your eyes opened right back and you breathed out in irritation. It was never a good thing to wake you up suddenly, you were quick to get grumpy. The T.V from another room could be heard, and your mom and dad must have fell asleep watching it. You could feel yourself falling asleep again to the muffled voices from the T.V.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Tadashi questioned. He sounded a little more tired.

"Sleeping." You said, turning to face the wall.

"Great, I'll come get you sometime in the afternoon then, I want you to meet Hiro and the others." He spoke more softly.

You could hear something being moved, and you guessed it was him getting on his bed.

"I'll text you my address if I'm awake by then." You were going to hang up, but he stopped you again.

"I actually have your address, Aunt Cass told me."

You didn't know if this was creepy or cute. The part of you that enjoyed his existence said cute, but the part of you that was annoyed at him for waking you up said creepy. You hung up before anything else could be said, and went back to sleep in a snap. 

* * *

><p>You weren't woken up naturally, you were woken up by honks from outside your house and your phone ringing over and over.<p>

It was 1 in the afternoon, and your family had gone to work and daycare. You should've went to class, however you were in too much of a good sleep. Were.

"What do you want?" You hissed once you picked up the phone.

"Well, I told you I was going to come get you." Tadashi calmly said.

You rubbed your eyes, and stretched out your whole body. The sunlight beamed through your curtains, and landed by your bed. The sound of birds chirping could be heard, it was a nice day.

You decided to get up and get ready.

"I'll be out in thirty minutes then, I have to shower and all." You explained, picking up the towel again and putting your feet into your animal slippers.

"Can you invite us in then? If it's going to take that long."

Other voices went through the phone, and you heard laughter.

"No! I'll be out in fifteen minutes then, okay? Bye." You put your phone on the charger and ran to the bathroom.

The shower took ten minutes, and you hated quick showers. You grunted to yourself while slipping on a pair of jeans, and putting on a big t-shirt, most likely your dad's shirt that got mixed up in your laundry. You blow-dried your hair and comb it.

When you checked the time, you realized it had taken you thirty minutes to finish doing that all. That wasn't bad, it would have taken you longer if the occasion was more formal and you didn't do laundry recently.

You grabbed your phone and keys, kicked off the animal slippers on your way down the stairs and slipped on a pair of sneakers.

The minivan was parked right in front of your house, and full of people. You had no idea how you were going to fit in there.

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT: Please comment on who you believe should be his girlfriend? GoGo, Honey Lemon, or my own OC? (Do not worry about my OC being very out of character to be dating Tadashi, I will do my best to make it reasonable.) She will be revealed in the next chapter!<strong>


	4. Not Your Bubblegum Girl

**A/N: **I suggest looking up volleyball terms if you do not understand them! For Tadashi's girlfriend, majority (from here and fanfiction . net) voted on. .

* * *

><p><strong>04. Not the Bubblegum Girl<strong>

* * *

><p>"This is GoGo Tomago." He introduced, and gave you a small wave since his other hand was busy holding some else's.<p>

He moved a bit closer to her so you could have space to sit.

"Hello," you greeted with a small smile, awkwardly sitting down with your hands politely on your lap.

"Sup." She responded, eyeing you up and down. Then blew out a pink bubble.

Everyone else in the minivan shortly introduced themselves, except for one guy named Fred, he went on and on about himself.

"I'm the school mascot, you probably seen me around sometimes around the campus." He continued, making weird hand gestures.

"So, how long have you two been together?" You asked, in attempt to ignore Fred.

"About a year, and a few months." Tadashi answered, "I met her at a feminist protest actually, she accidentally spit her gum on me instead of the trash, which was what I was walking by."

You laughed, and continued to ask a few more questions. GoGo didn't answer any, only Tadashi. The feeling that she didn't like you sunk in your stomach.

Honey Lemon sat in the passenger seat, in front of you. She tapped your knee and as if she read you mind, whispered to you, "Don't think GoGo doesn't like you, she just doesn't open up to people easily. She's a tough woman."

You frowned at Honey Lemon. You wanted to know GoGo in the way they do, and you were a bit impatient about it.

Honey Lemon stuck her thumbs up, and winked at you.

You cracked your fingers, and took a deep breath. "GoGo, I like your highlights." You complimented, directing your eyes back to her.

"Thanks, it's pretty cool," GoGo flipped her hair back, revealing more of her eyes. "It looks better at night though."

You were getting somewhere, she said more than just a simple sentence.

"GoGo loves riding around at night, on anything that can reach her level of fastness. Even roller skates." Tadashi told you, letting go of her hand and putting it around her shoulders.

Tadashi was still a lot taller than her, a bit more than a head taller than her. He placed his chin on her head, and looked out the window.

"Where are we going to?" You questioned, looking away from them, out the other window.

"We're going to a lake." Tadashi's younger brother popped his head out behind you, and you jumped a little since you forgotten he was there. He was so quiet.

"We're having a picnic!" Honey Lemon beamed, hands in a fist and shaking out of excitement. "Aunt Cass and I spent time making the food, there are a lot of fruits."

Wasabi easily found a parking space in the vast, crowded parking lot. Once he parked the minivan, everyone started getting the stuff.

"Hiro and I will go look for a space, yeah?" Honey Lemon suggested, already facing away from them, with one feet up.

"Okay, just don't make it too far." Tadashi said, gently pushing Hiro to Honey Lemon.

The two were gone, and you and the others held some boxes, a blanket, chairs, and other items.

"My back hurts already." Fred groaned, bending his back and dragging the two chairs on the pavement.

"Stop whining, women up!" GoGo commanded, holding the blanket and a chair. Fred picked the chairs up immediately.

You and Tadashi were holding the boxes of food, while Wasabi carried all the sports balls.

It didn't take much to spot Hiro and Honey Lemon, Honey Lemon was waving her hand frantically, and Hiro crouched over the sand. A lot of people were there, and at some point, you had to dodge a flying frisbee.

Finally, everything was set up. You sat on the large blanket, with GoGo, Tadashi, and Hiro. Fred, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon sat on the chairs. The snacks were unpacked and an aroma spread around the area. The brisk water was not high or close enough to the blanket.

"We should play some games first, before we eat." Tadashi remarked, as you were about to grab another strawberry. Others have actually already started eating.

"Right," you retrieved your hand, "like a physical one or a break the ice game?"

"Physical," Tadashi replied, smirking.

"Let's play some kick ball!" Honey Lemon said, taking off her sandals already and pulling out a pair of yellow sneakers from her bag.

Wasabi shook his head, "It's too crowded for that, could hurt someone. How about volleyball? There's a volleyball net right behind us." He threw a volleyball up and caught it swiftly.

Hiro stood up, and counted everyone in his head. "Girls against boys?" There were seven people total, three girls and four boys.

GoGo slapped her hands together a few times and spit the gum in her mouth onto a napkin.

"Deal, ready, girls?" She eyed you especially, and you stood up, tying up your hair.

Honey Lemon put back the sneakers and went barefoot, then jumped off her seat.

"Actually I'll be a referee." Hiro backed away from you guys, sitting back down on a chair.

Tadashi glowered at Hiro, and nudged his head toward the group. Everyone was standing but Hiro, and you all stretched while waiting for Hiro to get up.

"Hey, you said use this big head of mine, not my arms or legs." Hiro intertwined his fingers, and placed them on the back of his head as he leaned back.

Tadashi tsked and jogged away, and the others spread out, girls one side and boys on the other.

"I'll serve first." GoGo said, taking the ball from Wasabi's hand and going back to her side. Wasabi was in front, Fred in the middle, and Tadashi was more in the back. You were in front, eyeing Wasabi, and Honey Lemon was close behind you.

The serve was quick overhand, and Tadashi made no exception and bumped it to Fred, Fred almost missed it but passed it to Wasabi. Wasabi was going to spike it, however, he looked at you and lightly bumped it over.

You noticed the way is eyes softened, and didn't like it one bit. You told Honey Lemon to set it to you. You weren't an experienced athlete, but you knew some things from high school gym.

She set it to you, and you jumped, spiking it as hard as you can.

Wasabi was completely taken by surprise, and didn't do anything. GoGo went over to you and gave you a rough pat on the back.

"Good job!" She cheered, before running back to her spot.

The game continued a bit longer and in the end, your team won. Everyone was sweating, and Hiro sipped on his can of soda.

"Drink some water, guys," you said, taking out a bottle from the cooler and gulping down the water. There were sandwiches laid out, snacks, and some pastries.

Wasabi used his water bottle to wash his hands and face, and had a look of disgust when Fred dug right in.

"You did pretty good, [Y/N]." Tadashi marveled, a sandwich in his hand. You sat looking at the horizon, and took a big bite out of the apple in your hand.

"Surprisingly, right?" You laughed, "I was not so athletic in high school. I done sports, but only put in half-effort." You stated with a tiny shrug.

"Still," Tadashi chewed his sandwich, "you did great. Even GoGo complimented you."

At that moment, GoGo sat down next to Tadashi.

"Good game, good job, [Y/N]." She actually flashed you a smile, however it was gone a second later.

It was progress though, you could see that she wasn't as callous looking as she was earlier in the day. You weren't trying to be the bestest friends with her, you just wanted to understand her in the same way as everyone else did.

Fred was telling another story again, and Hiro was the only one really listening to it. Honey Lemon and Wasabi were discussing recipes, and the three of you guys were just staring at the horizon.

It was safe to say that it was a good day, with good people. Maybe the fact that GoGo and Tadashi are strongly together will hurt later, but for now, the moment was good so why not let it stay that way.


	5. The Early Bird Catches the Worm

**05. The Early Bird Catches the Worm**

* * *

><p>You yawned, and rubbed your eyes while setting the chairs down. Aunt Cass hadn't come down yet, but she left the door unlocked for you.<p>

You finished setting all the chairs down, and even wiped the tables before she finally came down with a bright smile.

"Wow, you're here so early!" Aunt Cass sang, already wearing her apron. It wasn't even nine yet, and her eyes were gleaming and her body danced around with joy. "I think today will be a good day, yes? Always wake up with the thought that the day has something good to offer."

She was so cheerful, and you couldn't help but smile.

The two of you spent the next forty minutes placing the fresh pastries away, stocked up the napkins, plates, and cups, and then opened the cafe by putting up the shades.

You stood by the cash register, waiting for customers.

Hiro came downstairs, his eyes barely wide open. He stretched, one hand gripping his backpack strap. Tadashi soon followed behind him, just as tired looking.

"Sheesh," he mumbled, going over to grab a doughnut, then he noticed you standing there. "Oh, yeah, you're working today."

You nodded your head, and the first customer walked in.

"Well, I'll try to leave class early today and help out, what time do you get out?" Tadashi asked, carefully putting some doughnuts in a yellow bag. Hiro fell asleep on a table while waiting for him.

"Um," you took the order of the customer first, and went beside of Tadashi to get the pastry ordered, "About five." You answered and returned back the the register with a full yellow bag.

Tadashi stood there and waited for you to finish, before replying.

When you were done, you faced him and raised your eyebrows, waiting for him to say something.

"Okay, so I'll be back by three, or four. Hiro will be back here earlier." Tadashi said, and went over to wake Hiro up.

Hiro jumped up, and groaned. His hair was always unkempt, but this morning, he looked like he really just woke up. Well, maybe that was because he did.

The two were out without a goodbye, Aunt Cass not receiving a hug either.

"Huh?" She watched them through the windows, "They're up so early, and in such a rush." There was flour on her hands, and she wiped them on the white apron, then went back to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>The day seemed to drag on, the cat clock on the wall ticking just agonized you. You felt extremely stressed, remembering about all the classes and homework you had.<p>

"You'll grow old quicker if you have a lot of stress." Aunt Cass commented, carrying a laced tied box, but it had a card on it. You didn't think it was for you, and you were right. "This is a quick delivery a few streets from here, for an old lady. Do you mind bringing this there? I'll give you the address."

She had already placed the box in front of you, and took out a paper and pen, so you didn't respond. She scribbled down a number and a few words after it, then finished off with a signature and a heart.

"Here!" She tucked it between the lace, and clicked her pen. "It shouldn't take you longer than twenty minutes, yeah? I'll reward you for this." Then Aunt Cass winked at you.

You took off your apron, and placed it on the stool. You picked up the box, and was surprised on how heavy it was.

"What's in here?" You questioned, eyes bugged out while walking over to the door.

Aunt Cass was already busy with customers, and you made some guess. Just as you walked out, a moped parked right in front of you. It was Tadashi, and Hiro. They took off their helmets, and raised their eyebrows at you.

"Oh, I have to make a delivery down the street." You clarified.

Hiro hopped off the moped, and greeted you before rushing into the cafe. Tadashi sat there, and the two of you stared at each other for a bit.

Then, as the silence got awkward, you asked him why he was here so early, it was barely three o'clock.

"Oh, I wanted to come early actually, and it's good that I did. Get on, what's the address?"

Hesitantly, you sat down on the moped, a little pushed back from him because of the box in your tight grasp. You got a whiff of his scent, and felt more at ease.

Tadashi put back on his helmet, and handed you Hiro's helmet.

"What's the address?" He asked again, while you buckled the helmet on you.

You told him and he chuckled, "That's the grandma of the neighborhood, she never even orders those for herself." He whispered, moving out between the cars and driving slowly at first.

Then, he started going faster. Soon, you were seeing blurred colors and hearing sounds that left as soon as it came.

He suddenly stopped at a yellow house. There was already an aged woman sitting at the porch waiting, with money in her wrinkled hands.

With the box in your hand, you went to her and kindly smiled.

"Uh, Mrs. Chi?" You called out, though she was getting up already.

"Ah, a new face. What happened to that young man. . Tadashi?"

As if on queue, Tadashi appeared behind you, and gave a small wave. "Hello, Mrs. Chi." He greeted, tugging down the brim of his hat politely.

Mrs. Chi delicately took the box from your hands, and slid the money onto your opened palm, along with a folded up note. The ink had bled through the paper, and you could read that it was for Aunt Cass. You put it in your back pocket, with the money.

"Thank you, sweetie, is she your girlfriend, Tadashi?" She put the box on the chair, and returned with innocent eyes.

You blushed lightly, then glanced at Tadashi, who had a a normal expression on his face.

"No, no, she's a friend. You met GoGo before, that's my girlfriend!" He explained, and you nodded your head quickly. The two of you were just friends.

Mrs. Chi squinted her eyes, trying to remember. "The short one?" She muttered to herself to remember, and Tadashi chuckled and nodded his head.

"Yes, that one." Then he tugged on the hem of your sleeves. "Well, we got to go, we have work. It was good seeing you again!" And with that, the two of you rushed back to the moped, well it was more of him pulling you.

"Why are you in such a rush?" You shouted when he sped through the street, and you noticed he was driving in the opposite direction. "Where are we going?" You inquired, a bit paranoid.

Tadashi didn't respond, until he drove onto sand.

"I wanted to come early to actually show you this view," he took off his helmet, and got off the moped. You did the same, and didn't understand the big point.

There was a distant bridge, and passing cars behind you two. The water tides were low, and the sun shined through the clouds. What was the big deal?

"I didn't think I'd have enough time if I came by at four to help, since you have class today. So, how is it?" He asked, standing closely beside you. Hands weren't touching, however you almost lifted your index finger to feel your skin on his.

"It's. ." You didn't know how to reply, unsure what he wanted to hear. "A very calming scenery."

He smiled, and crouched down. You still stood up, and crossed your arms.

"I love coming here, especially when the sun is as bright as it is today. Makes me want to go surfing again." Tadashi told you, arms laid on his knees and he stole a glance from you.

"You surf?"

"Oh, yeah!" He rose up and felt sand seep into his sneakers. "Not so often anymore, but I like it. Anyways, we got to go, I think we're standing on quick sand." Tadashi begun walking back, and kicked his foot to take out the sand.

You giggled, and followed him. The two of you got onto the moped, and you still only grabbed his shirt, not wrapping your arms around him.

"Ready?"

"I think so."

* * *

><p>For some crazy reason, it actually took you forty minutes to return back to the cafe, and Aunt Cass was not surprised.<p>

"Hiro told me." She said when you put back on your apron and gave her the folded note from before. "Tadashi?" She called out, just as he was about to run upstairs.

He sighed and jogged over to her, a smile on his face. You couldn't help but chuckle.

"Since you want to come here so early, you'll take over [Y/N]'s last hour." Aunt Cass smirked, and both you and Tadashi's mouth fell open.

"No, it's okay, Aunt Cass!" You frantically shook your head.

Tadashi shrugged his shoulder, and turned his smile to you. "It's fine, you should relax a little before class, anyways." He stated.

You still didn't like it, and shook your head again.

"I'm fine, I'm working, Aunt Cass." You stubbornly said.

Aunt Cass' mouth scrunched to the side while she thought about it, then she clapped her hand when she came to a conclusion. "Both of you two will work then!" She exclaimed.

Niether you or Tadashi had a problem with it, so he started working without putting on an apron.

"What did you really think about the view earlier? At the beach?" He inquired when the two of you stood behind the counter together while Aunt Cass was in the kitchen again.

You shrugged, monitoring the cafe, "It was nice, I guess." You answered, then a man walked over to you.

He ordered and Tadashi went to get it while you took the money and gave back the change. Once he was gone, Tadashi nudged his elbow to your side, and his lips pursed in.

"Yes?"

"I feel like you don't know how to appreciate good things in life, because you don't see much good in life." He remarked.

You grimaced, "What are you talking about?" You asked, confused and somewhat offended. You appreciated good things in life, like your family and your scholarship to SFIT.

Tadashi didn't say anything after that, discerning the disconcerted tone in your voice.

After a handful of minutes, he opened his mouth and shut it right back. Instead, he made jokes to cheer you up and some of them actually made you crack up.

"That was such a dumb joke. _What did the traffic light say to the car?_" You quoted Tadashi, still laughing, "_Don't look, I'm changing_."

He laughed too, and smirked proudly at his joke.

After the two of you calmed down, he stood there and looked at you. "Your smile is great." He marveled.

Though it sounded weird to you, he meant it innocently, and simply said it out of kindness and awe.

You didn't know how to react, and stayed silent.

Soon, it was closing time and that meant cleaning up a little before leaving.

Aunt Cass was washing the supplies in the back, and you were cleaning the table as Tadashi swept the floor.

You recalled his comment earlier while wiping the tables, and sighed, "What did you mean earlier, when you said something about me not being able to appreciate things?"

Tadashi paused and then continued sweeping the floor.

"Oh, I said that you didn't know how, not that you weren't able to." He replied.

"I didn't know you were a psychologist." You retorted sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

Tadashi chuckled, and swept closer to your feet just to annoy you a little more, out of humor. You stomped away from him to the other side of the table, and the two of you stood facing each other.

"You ever went to a beach here? Ever even left the city? Been into the city, really?"

"Nope." You tried to relax, understanding that Tadashi was just curious. Though his questions made you feel less important, not enough.

"Well then," he rested his chin on the tip of the broom with a grin. "Then that's my next plan, to just show you how amazing the world can be, and we'll start with the city first. Just you and I, and the occasional friends and Hiro."

You didn't want to show him the dumb smile on your face when it quickly came, and you looked down at the table and sprayed it.

For the rest of the time, neither Tadashi's goofy grin or your dumb smile disappeared from your faces.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Check my other TadashixReader fanfic 'The Sort of Funny Thing about Us'!

**Feedback, please!**


	6. Dinner

**06. Dinner**

* * *

><p>"Were you serious?" You asked, Tadashi walking beside you.<p>

Instead of going home right after the cafe closed, the two of you decided to walk together by the waters.

"Of course I was serious, I want to give you the best time of your life." He winked at you.

"Please don't ever say that to me," you laughed with a faint blush across your cheeks, "You sound like you're hitting on me."

Tadashi ignored that comment and looked over to the water, past you.

"What do you think about the view now?" He questioned, hands stuffed in his jacket.

You stopped walking and twisted around, fully facing the waves. Tadashi slowly stopped and done the same, a small distant between you two. You inhaled greatly, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear while the wind blew lightly against your neck and face.

You exhaled, and answered, "I honestly think this is a beautiful place, and a beautiful time."

"Yeah, it really is beautiful." Tadashi gazed at you, and when you looked over at him, he turned away quickly.

"I feel like this moment was meant to happen, you know?" You didn't look away from him, then wiggled your bare toes in the cool sand.

"Maybe," he took his hands out of his pockets and crouched down. You started moving a little closer to the water, and let your feet and hem of your pants get soaked. "A lot of times, I feel lost, and don't know what's going on, so I come here." He told you.

You glanced back at him, and your eyes twinkled.

"Well, it's not about what you lost, right? It's about what you found." You responded, grinning.

Tadashi chuckled and you slowly sat down beside him, the heel of your feet touching the cool water. The two of you didn't say anything for awhile, and then he threw some sand on your feet.

"GoGo hates going to beaches and just relaxing like this. She'd rather relax with some action movie on the couch instead of this." He spoke, continuing to bury some parts of your feet with the sand.

"That isn't so bad." You said and brushed off the sand.

"I mean, it's awesome. She's so fun, but sometimes I just want to relax like this, you know? Sometimes watching explosions and cars drifting gets boring to me." Tadashi explained, throwing the leftover sand in his hand to the side.

You nodded your head, it was starting to get even cooler now. The breezes gave you some chills.

"I think it would be a good time for me to go home. My parents might get worried." You informed him, standing up and walking to your moped.

Tadashi jogged behind you, you were his ride. When the two of you decided to come here, instead of taking both mopeds and wasting gas, you offered to drive the both of you to the beach and him back home.

"I can drive this time." You stated, putting on your helmet as Tadashi was already sitting down. "It would be easier, so I can just drive off once you hop off." You explained.

He scooted back, and you sat down then started your moped.

He held you by the back of your jacket, putting a distance between you two. You started driving once you felt his grip, and you weren't going slow. You dashed past green lights, and your hair blew into Tadashi's face.

He made weird noises as he tried to spit your hair out, and you giggled when you looked into your mirror. He grimaced, and looked to the side.

Soon, you stopped right next to the cafe, so you could just drive up the hill and home.

Tadashi jumped off, and smiled at you.

"Thank you so much!" He exclaimed, and didn't move until you cracked a smile.

"You're welcome, Tadashi." You replied, and drove off, glancing into the mirror to check in on him. He was knocking on the door, phone by his ear. You laughed, he had forgotten his keys.

It actually wasn't late at all, it had just turned seven. Your mom and dad were home by then, and all the kids. When you arrived home, you were greeted by their laughter and a delicious scent entering your nose.

Your family were making spaghetti and meatballs, well it was your mom making it. Your dad was playing with the kids and helping them with their homemade homework.

The moment you kicked off your shoes, your mom tilted her head to the side so she could see out the doorway and into the hallway better.

"Oh, how was class, angel?" She asked, still watching you while you came into the kitchen, but then you stopped in your steps. You bit your tongue so you wouldn't cuss out loud, instead you sighed through your nose and bent backwards a little, your arms swinging at your side.

Your mom raised a single eyebrow at you, giving you a questioning expression.

"I was too busy with work, I forgot I had class today. Wow." You grunted, twisting around, going over to your shoes. Your mom scurried over to the doorway, a wooden spoon in her hand.

"Hey, you can miss a night! We're having spaghetti, c'mon, don't be such a nerd." She chided, making visual threats to you with the wooden spoon.

You thought about it, and then shrugged. One absent day couldn't hurt, right? Though you hated missing class.

You went back into the kitchen with your mom, where your siblings and dad greeted you.

Lilly had blue marker on her chin, and Danny had pink stripes on both of his cheeks. You laughed, and asked them about it.

"I got this by accident, and uh, Danny, what you do again?" Lilly looked over to him, though he was paying no attention. He was too busy doing his addition and subtraction. "I think he wanted to be a tiger." She explained.

Your mom called you over, to help serve the food, meaning your dad had to clean up Danny and Lilly's mess.

"Go wash your hands, kids." You ordered Lilly and Danny while they stood behind you.

The two dashed off, going to the bathroom.

"When did you become such a mom?" Your dad questioned, his eyebrows went up, and you could see some faint forehead creases.

"She's always been like this, honey." Your mom responded, pouring the sauce and meatballs on the noodles as you placed them on the plates.

"I was just kidding." Your dad retorted, going over to the sink and washed his hands.

Danny and Lilly ran back, and sat down on the table politely, hands folded and laying on the table as their eyes glistened under the light.

You brought the two plates to them, and told them to wait for everyone, but then winked.

Lilly and Danny giggled and secretly both took a bite of the large meatballs on their plate before your parents could come over.

You placed down the other plates, and sat down at your seat patiently for your mom and dad could come over.

At last, they did and everyone started eating once they sat down.

"I went to interview this man that worked and recently stole kittens and birds from a pet store to set them free." Your dad said to you, and then put a whole meatball into his mouth.

"Sounds like someone I'd like to be friends with." You replied, smiling and slurping up a noodle.

Danny and Lilly tried to slurp up their noodles, and ended up getting sauce on their cheeks. Your mom flashed them a disapproval look, and then wiped their cheeks for them, though they were capable of doing it themselves.

"Yeah, but guess what he said his reason was?"

"Uh, he has a love for birds and cats?"

"Nope, he said he hated birds and kittens, and actually couldn't stand them being there everyday he went to work." Your dad started to laugh before you did, and you couldn't help but laugh with him.

Your mom sipped on her wine, and stirred the noodles with her fork. It had grown quiet in the room, the only sound being slurped up noodles and the metal forks clanking against the plates.

When everyone was done eating, you stacked up the plates and brought them over to the sink.

"Hey, [Y/N]," your mom came beside you, hands holding the cups. "I have a question."

"Sure thing, Mom. What is it?" You asked, turning on the water and getting the sponge.

Danny and Lilly went with your dad into the living to watch a little T.V leaving you and your mom alone in the kitchen.

"Do you mind inviting the Hamada family over?" She requested.

You slowed down your scrubbing on the plates, and sucked in your teeth. The sound of T.V could be heard, along with Danny and Lilly laughing, you made sure your dad couldn't hear you.

"Dad made you ask me?" You inquired.

Your mom shook her head, and washed the soap off the plates for you.

"It just gets lonely without another woman sometimes? Like you're a woman, of course, but I want someone I could connect to in another way." Your mom explained to you, a careful look on her face.

It was understood that she thought what she was saying would offend, however you got what she meant.

For her, you nodded your head.

"I'll call them later, after I finish washing the dishes." You told her.

Your mom shrieked, and her hands clapped together rapidly, and water sprayed onto your arm. Your dad rushed in, worried about her shrieking until he saw the smile on her face.

"She said yeah?" He questioned, a huge grin going on his face. You rolled your eyes, and sighed.

"Yes!" Your mom responded in a high pitched voice, jumping up and down in glee. Your dad raised his arms and begun dancing a little, both of them eventually dancing together.

As you laughed, you reminded them that there were a possibility that they could so no, yet that didn't stop them. They continued dancing and laughing, even when you went to your room with the phone by your ear.

While the phone rang, your mom and dad kneeled in front of your closed door, ears straining to hear. Lilly and Danny joined in, despite them having no idea what was going on.

"Hello?" A soft voice greeted, and you knew that he was sleeping before.

"Ah! Did I wake you up this time, Tadashi? Guess that's karma for last time." You joked, still unaware that your family was right outside your room.

"What do you want?" He asked, yawning right after.

"Oh, right." You sat down at your desk. "My parents want to invite your family over to dinner." You stated, your face getting warm for some reason.

Your mom and dad glanced at each other, both grinning.

Tadashi didn't say a long time, and you frowned. There was really only one reason for his silence. "Did you fall asleep?" You groaned, rolling your eyes and falling back, only to hit your head on the wall. You winced and took in a deep breath, rubbing your head.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi questioned quickly, sounding like he just woke up, possibly because he did.

"Yeah," you continued to rub your head, "so what's the answer?"

"Uh, when exactly?" His eyes were slowly closing again. "When exactly?" He repeated, opening his eyes right away.

You glanced at the doorway, hearing a thump. You noticed a shadow with the crack between the door and floor, and got up, walking over to the door. You swung the door open, and hovered over their snooping bodies.

"When exactly?" You inquired in a hush voice, looking down at them.

"Tomorrow! Dad's not working and I'm only working morning shift." Your mom whispered. Danny and Lilly giggled, leaning onto your mom and dad's back.

"How about tomorrow? Tell Aunt Cass and Hiro!" You reported to Tadashi, and then walked back into your room, closing the door.

"Yeah, okay. We can do that, we can do that." His eyes were closing and he didn't intend to open them back up. "Bye, [Y/N]. I'll see you tomorrow." He muttered.

"See ya tomorrow." You responded, and hung up.

Your door opened slowly, and your mom and dad were still on the floor, legs crossed with the kids on their laps.

"So, what did he say, did he accept this loving family's offer?" Your dad asked and then tucked Danny more closer to him, batting his eyelashes at you.

"He said no." You frowned, and flashed them a sullen look.

"What?" Your mom gasped, hugging Lilly.

"Nah, just kidding!" You grinned, and gave them a thumbs up. "He said yes!" You cheered.

Your mom and dad raised their arms, shouting joyfully.

"We're meeting your future husband so early," your mom marveled, "this is great!"

Your dad stopped what he was doing, "What?" He uttered, and a scowl formed on your face.

You and your mom glanced at each other, then back at your dad, exploding into laughter. Danny and Lilly still had no clue what was going on, but they laughed too.

"Oh, honey, you'll love tomorrow." Your mom tilted over to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek, even though he was still in disapproval. "You'll love it!" She cheered.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Maybe you know where I'm going with this, maybe you don't. (¬‿¬) We'll see. Check my other TadashixReader fanfic 'The Sort of Funny Thing about Us'!

**Feedback, please!**


	7. Do Not Call This a Date

**07. Please Do Not Call This a Date**

* * *

><p>Your face grew warm every time you looked at Tadashi during work, and he chuckled whenever he noticed it.<p>

"Relax, [Y/N], it's not a date. My family is coming over, and I might even bring GoGo." Tadashi told you, while pulling the tray of fresh cookies out of the oven, and then he went over to a fresh cake that has been cooling for fifteen minutes.

You still wouldn't look at him, and inspected the cookies when they were laid on the metal countertop. You were beginning to get the hang of of everything now.

After you seen that just about all of them were good, you put on your kitchen mitts and took the tray, bringing it out of the kitchen.

Once Aunt Cass saw you, she smiled brightly and took the tray from your hands with no kitchen mitts, at first you were quite terrified of that, but then you realized Aunt Cass looked like a woman that could kill and at the same time bake sweets.

"Why are you so pink?" She questioned, putting the cookies away.

You sighed, and leaned back against the wall.

"Is it because of tonight?" Aunt Cass asked, raising her eyebrows.

You nodded your head, and opened your mouth to say something until Tadashi poked his head out of the kitchen, some flour from earlier on his cheeks. He looked so adorable, you couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, Aunt Cass, do you want the frosting pink or blue?" He asked, glancing at you with a smile.

"I want it yellow now, please." Aunt Cass answered, and then looked up at the ceiling in thought, "Or actually, make it a light pink!" She said.

Tadashi nodded his head, and grinned at you before going back into the kitchen.

When he was gone, Aunt Cass stared at you, her index finger tapping her chin. You slowly slid over to the kitchen door, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze.

At last, you walked backwards into the kitchen and bumped into something hard.

You yelped, and turned around, only to see Tadashi with flour all over his apron and hands. Your eyes grew wide, and you patted your own back, seeing some white powder on your hands.

You were wearing a black shirt today, and you groaned loudly.

Tadashi chuckled, and wiped his dirty hands on his own pants.

"Don't get too worked up about it, flour doesn't stain. Besides, there's an easy quick way to take it off." He informed you, walking over to the sink. You followed behind him, and watched him wet a small towel that was hanging by. After he was done wetting the towel, he spun his index finger a few times, as to gesture you to turn around.

With some hesitation, you did as told.

You yelped again when you felt the damp towel dab against your shirt and skin. Tadashi laughed lightly, and held you down with one hand on your shoulder.

"Don't move too much, I'm not suppose to rub the towel, only dab." He muttered, finishing up.

The second he was done, you turned your head back and pulled the back of your shirt, expecting to see a faded white. It was clean, and the black fabric only looked darker because it was still a bit damp.

"Ta-da!" Tadashi marveled, a proud grin on his face.

"That's pretty cool, I'll be sure to remember that trick. That'll come in handy!" You cheered.

"My mom actually taught me it," he stated, his tone softening.

"Oh, where is she anyways? I haven't met her yet." You commented, tilting your head to the side curiously.

He took in a deep breath, and his eyes went to the floor. There was a moment of silence before he sighed again, and scratched his head. It didn't take you long to get the situation, the reason must have been why he has been living with Aunt Cass.

"Oh, you don't have to explain it. I get it." You acknowledged, noticing the stiffness in his shoulders.

Tadashi gulped, and apologized under his breath.

You brushed off his apology, and went over to the yellow cake with a bowl of frosting by it. "What's the cake for? I actually don't even remember seeing orders for a cake, huh?" You inquired.

"Oh, haha," Tadashi walked over to your side, and slid the bowl over to him, "it's for a friend of Aunt Cass."

You raised a single eyebrow at him, suddenly intrigued by what it could be. Some suspicion in you said it was for you, however it was working hours still and you were sure neither Aunt Cass or him wanted to use their time to prepare you a cake.

"By the way, I'm leaving early today so I can go to my classes and still get home in time for dinner, so you guys might have to meet my parents without me for a little. You guys can even eat without me! It'll be fine." You insisted.

Tadashi frowned, and picked up the flat frosting spatula in the bowl, scooping up the frosting and dumping a large amount on the cake.

"Do you have to go to class? What will missing a day do?" He started to spread out the frosting, his eyebrows knitted together.

"I actually missed class yesterday, I forgot all about it when I came home, my mom told me to stay home to eat her special spaghetti and meatballs." You laughed, a sheepish grin on your face.

"Your mom lets you stay home from class?" He flashed you a weird expression, and you felt more embarrassed.

"I mean, of course I felt guilty, um," you tried to correct yourself, but Tadashi stopped you.

"That's pretty cool, there are some days when I want to stay home but can't, it makes me feel guilty. I guess that's a cool mom you got there." Tadashi smirked.

You didn't say anything else, adoring Tadashi. He was so kind to you, you smiled as he tsked at himself for accidentally wiping some frosting with his thumb.

Tadashi glanced over at you, and stopped what he was doing.

"You've been staring at me these last five minutes, you're admiring my skillful work or something?" He joked, and then went back to doing what he was doing before.

"Actually, you can say that." You giggled.

The kitchen door suddenly opened up, and Aunt Cass stepped half way in with big eyes, pointing at the clock above the door.

You looked up, and gasped when you realized the time. You had to get to class soon, if you wanted to actually be home before dinner even started.

"I got to go! You got my address, right, Aunt Cass?" You had wrote it on your application before.

"Yes, now get going! I'll see you later, okay? Be safe." Aunt Cass said, moving to the side so you could get out.

You went to the office, and hung up your apron, brushing off your back just in case. You walked out expecting a box full of sweets from Aunt Cass like usual, however she was busy with a customer and you shrugged your shoulders.

It wasn't that important anyways.

"Bye, guys!" You shouted, scurrying out the cafe, your bag smacking against your hip.

You only had ten minutes to get to class, and you didn't waste a minute. You buckled up your helmet, and started driving, going in between cars and cutting through short-cuts.

The sound of a clock ticking resonated in your head, and you squinted your eyes through the slashing wind.

Once you got to SFIT, you hopped off your moped and hung your helmet on the handle.

You stuffed your key into you bag, and ran past the students and to your class. You cussed to yourself, and pushed past a group of people in the hallway, rolling your eyes.

Usually, you weren't this aggressive, but you were almost late to class. The professor really enjoyed you, and you didn't want to disappoint him, especially after missing a day.

Finally, you frantically entered the class, only to see a few people there.

"Oh, [Y/N], you're here early, we missed you yesterday, are you okay?" The professor asked, concerned at your bugged eyes and messy hair.

"What?" You inquired.

"Didn't you get my email yesterday? Class will start ten minutes later, because I had thought I had errands to do." Your professor clarified, and took a sip of coffee out of the mug in his hand.

You groaned, and bent back in exhaustion and disappointment.

* * *

><p>After you went to your classes, it was eight at night. The sky was black, and the air was chilly. You were worn out, your last class had you doing the most work.<p>

You dragged yourself all the way to your moped, not a lot of people were around. They were either studying in their dorms, or at home by now.

During the time you drove home, you drove slowly, cruising up the hill and through the streets. It took you longer than it should have to arrive at your house, which had all the lights on and an unfamiliar green car parked at the front. You parked your moped, clinging onto your helmet.

When you got closer to your front door, you heard a howling laughter and you gulped. Your dad must have been laughing at his own jokes.

You turned the knob, not expecting it to be locked, and pushed the door open slowly. The laughter got even louder, this time you even heard Tadashi's laugh.

"Huh? Did you hear that?" A chair screeched against the wooden floor, and your mom came over to the kitchen doorway. "Oh it's just you, [Y/N]!" Your mom beamed, as you took off your shoes and hung up your jacket.

"Who is it, honey?" Your dad questioned from the kitchen.

After you were done, your mom took your hand and dragged you into the kitchen, where the Hamada family and your family crowded around the table. Your siblings were sitting on your dad's lap.

"Oh, [Y/N], welcome home." Your dad greeted.

You took an empty seat between Tadashi and your dad, your hands politely on your lap with your back straight. It felt awkward, it seemed like you killed the mood for everyone just by being there.

"How was class, angel?" Your mom asked after a few moments of quietness, and then sipped on her glass of wine.

"So tiring." You began to relax your shoulders and leaned back, noticing the plates in front of everyone. No one had eaten yet, all the plates were clean.

Your mom recognized your observation, and placed her glass down.

"We were waiting for you, well Tadashi suggested it actually." Your mom mentioned, and then stood up. Aunt Cass got up too, and followed her over to the stove.

You looked over to the side, at Tadashi, and smiled.

"I told you that you could eat without me." You said, raising a single eyebrow at him.

Tadashi couldn't say anything because your dad shuffled his seat closer to your, eyeing Tadashi intently.

"This is not a date, by the way, you two." He stated, and then looked at you.

"Please do not call this a date." You retorted, and rolled your eyes. Then you glared at your dad, getting that he might've been joking, but it was still irritating. Especially if considering that you were an adult now.

Your dad grunted, and turned away.

Tadashi stifled a laughter, and you nudged into his arm, frowning at him. He returned your expression with a simple grin, and moved his head over to your ear.

"Technically, by definition, this is a date. A date isn't only romantically, it can also be socially." Tadashi whispered, and you felt chills when his breath touched your skin.

You moved your head away from him, grimacing and shaking your head.

"Please do not call this a date." You repeated, and your dad glanced behind him at you.

Your mom rushed over with kitchen mitts on and an aluminum pan with lasagna in her hands. Aunt Cass was behind her, holding a tray of tea. She passed them out as your mom placed down the tray in the center of the table.

"Whoa!" Your mom exhaled deeply, and then took a seat.

Aunt Cass sat right beside Tadashi, and she kindly smiled at you.

Soon, everyone had a slice of lasagna on their plate, and ate it happily. Danny and Lilly would take some bites off your plate, even though they had a small portion of their own.

Your dad was telling another story of his, and Tadashi and you were quietly having a conversation of your own.

"I like your mom's cooking, this is really delicious." He reported, picking up a big size of lasagna on his fork and putting it into his mouth.

"Well, pasta is her specialty." You agreed, and then called for your mom's attention.

"Huh?" Your mom asked, turning her face away from Aunt Cass and to you.

"Tadashi said your cooking is really good." You told her, and bumped your knee against his.

Tadashi looked up from his plate, and nodded his head, with food still in his mouth he said, "Thish ish really delicious!"

Your mom laughed, and then she flashed him a thumbs up. She always took pride in her cooking, and she loved it when she was told how good it was.

"Hey, I just realized this, but where's Hiro?" You questioned, looking around the table and suddenly realizing his absence.

"He's napping over at the couch, since he already ate before we got here." Aunt Cass explained, and she pointed her fork at the doorway, at the direction of the living room across the kitchen.

You pouted, and then took a bit of your lasagna.

"I had forgotten to mention this before, Cass, but thank you so much for the boxes of sweets you give to [Y/N]. That's so sweet of you, Danny loves them!" Your mom beamed, and pinched Danny's cheek.

Aunt Cass waved her hand, "It's nothing, really. [Y/N] is such a nice person. I hope you enjoy the cake Tadashi baked for you."

You blushed, and mumbled a thank you, stealing a glance from Tadashi.

Everyone was finishing up their plates now, and your mom and Aunt Cass were sharing recipes with each other, while you and Tadashi were just chatting and making jokes. Your dad was watching the kids, and playfully pretending to eat off their plates.

"I'll collect the plates and wash the dishes, looks like everyone is done." You remarked, standing up and placing Tadashi's plate on yours. You took the others, and went to put them in the sink.

"Want to see my cookbook collection?" Your mom questioned Aunt Cass eagerly, bending over the table a little.

"May I?" Aunt Cass responded, just as excited as your mom.

You giggled when you heard them, and tied up your hair.

"Alright, kids, that means let's go to bed. You looking like a zombie there, Danny." Your dad muttered, picking up the two kids in his arms. "I'll be in the bathroom, helping these two if any of you need me." He said before leaving the kitchen.

Then your mom and Aunt Cass got up, skipping over to the doorway.

"We'll be in the living room, okay? Make good choices!" Your mom hollered, and then skipped out with Aunt Cass.

Now it was just Tadashi and you, but he was still sitting at the table whereas you were at the sink. Eventually, he got up and went by to your side, leaning back against the countertop with his arms folded.

"I like your family, it's very. . .Family-orientated." Tadashi commented.

"Trust me, we are a lot closer than this. This isn't a very good first impression of how we really are." You chuckled, and begun to scrub the dishes.

"I think it was a great impression. Your dad has a ton of interesting, funny story, and your mom is so bright. She connects to Aunt Cass pretty well."

A loose strand of hair fell in front of your face, and you tried to throw it back by shaking your head, however that only caused more strands to fall in front of your face. You sighed, and tried to blow the hair back, it didn't work.

"Hey, can you just tuck this hair behind my ear, it's bothering me and my hands are soapy, please?" You begged, turning your face to him.

Tadashi reached over to the strands of hair, and gently tucked them behind your ear, his eyes gazing at your face.

You felt his gaze, and looked back to the dishes quickly.

Just then, the two of you heard someone stomping their way to the kitchen, and Tadashi backed away from you even more. In fear it was your dad.

It was just Hiro, he came in and yawned, while rubbing his eyes.

"Aunt Cass squealing over books woke me up," Hiro groaned, and then stretched his arms. "She wouldn't read any childcare books, but she'll ask Mrs. [Y/L/N] if she could borrow her cooking books." He added, going over to the table and plopping down onto the chair.

Tadashi and you glanced at each other, before laughing.

Hiro was so sassy, and he was barely awake.

"You guys have a good date? Accidentally kiss on the same noodle?" Hiro teased, becoming more aware.

It seemed like everyone was forgetting that Tadashi was taken, and you groaned.

Tadashi realized your annoyance now, and frowned. "It's not a date, Hiro." He empathized, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Come on, Tadashi, I know that you and Go―"

"Hiro." Tadashi snapped, eyes hard.

Hiro's mouth went into a thin line, and he didn't say anything else.

You stood uncomfortably, trying to distract yourself from listening to them and what was going on. You washed all the dishes without a thought, and when you were done, you still weren't sure if you should move or not.

Hiro was tracing an outline with his finger on the table and Tadashi still stood by the countertop.

"Hiro, do you want some lasagna?" You offered, seeing that no one had put it away yet. There were still some leftovers enough for Hiro to finish.

Hiro shrugged, and then his stomach growled loudly. He got pink in embarrassment, and you giggled, even Tadashi cracked a smile.

"That is definitely a yes." You said, and happily went to the cabinet and pulled out a plate for Hiro, Tadashi moved to the side, grinning to himself as you did.

You brought the plate over to Hiro, and placed the lasagna onto the plate.

"It's still pretty warm, so I hope you enjoy." You told him, and sat down next to him. Tadashi walked over and sat to the other chair by his side, and you and him watched Hiro devour the lasagna, both of you guys chuckling at the tomato sauce at the corner of Hiro's lips.

"You guys are creepy, watching a fourteen year old eat." Hiro joked, and then took another big bite, finishing up the plate.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** It took me about eight hours to write this (with A LOT of breaks haha!) It's not a proper ending for a chapter, but it's 1 am, and I need to sleep. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Check my other TadashixReader fanfic 'The Sort of Funny Thing about Us'!

**Feedback, please!**


	8. A Sky Full of Stars

**A/N: **After almost a month, here is your chapter eight!

* * *

><p><strong>08. A Sky Full of Stars<strong>

* * *

><p>Hiro was playing with your siblings while your dad took a nap, and your mom and Aunt Cass were still gossiping and chatting over cook books.<p>

It was just Tadashi and you now.

The two of you stood out on the porch, not being able to stay in that house any longer. Danny and Lilly were screaming and laughing so obnoxiously that you were getting annoyed, whereas Tadashi didn't want to hear anymore of Aunt Cass' high-pitch squealing.

"Thanks for inviting us over to dinner, it's been awhile since we went to a different person's house. It was always the same places over and over." Tadashi said, a smile of relief on his face.

"You're welcome, and any time." You returned the smile.

There were barely any stars out, and the ones that were out were distant and dim. The winds were weak, and it wasn't cold to the point of wearing a jacket. It actually felt warmer than it did this evening.

"Any time? Then I'll be here every night." He joked, and then sat down on the porch steps.

You slowly sat down beside him, propped your elbows above your knees, and rested your chin between your two hands. It was quiet for a few moments until you heaved out a deep sigh.

"I'm always at the same place, and I'm now realizing just how exhausted I am of it." You muttered.

Meeting Tadashi, even though you two hadn't known each other for a long time, made you realize how much you haven't felt or seen yet. You were always in your comfort zone, which was your personal bubble, school, and home.

The city would be such an adventure to see, and you owned a moped, why didn't you ever go explore it?

It was because you were afraid, terrified that the one journey you might take could be the last one. A happiness gone as soon as it came. It was too risky, it would be too much for your family if anything were to happen to you.

"That's why you met me, so I could show you all the things you never knew you wanted to see." There was a lopsided grin on his face.

Despite how cheerful he was, you couldn't help but recall what Hiro started saying before Tadashi stopped him. It was about GoGo and him, and it didn't sound so good.

"You don't believe me?" He questioned, noticing how the corners of your lips tugged down.

You shook your head, "No, no, I believe you." You assured him.

You lifted up your head, and stared at the rows of houses in front of you. Most of the lights were on, and you could see moving and dancing shadows through some of the windows.

"I have a feeling you don't, so I'll prove it to you." He leaped up, spun around, and put his hand out in front of your face.

You gave him a questioning expression, and that only made him shake his hand out in front of you.

With the same expression on your face, you took his hand and was immediately captivated by the warmth you felt from the quick touch of his palm against yours.

The sensation still stuck with you even after he pulled his hand away.

"I'm sure your mom won't mind, and your dad? Uh, you're an adult. And oh jeez, Aunt Cass is going to kill me." Tadashi whispered, scratching his upper back in thought, and then shrugged.

"What are you planning to do?" You asked, but then you felt his hand again and Tadashi dragged you down to the green car.

He took out some keys from his pocket, and stuck it into the lock. The car unlocked right away, and you opened the passenger door. Both of you entered the car in silence, and Tadashi started the car.

"Safety first! Don't forget the seatbelt." He reminded, buckled his seatbelt, and waited until you were done.

Once he heard your seatbelt lock in, he started to drive out onto the streets.

"Where are we going to go?" You asked, and then looked back to see your house getting smaller and smaller. You were a little scared of the phone call you might receive from your parents or the lecture you'll get when you get home.

Tadashi turned on the radio, and 'A Sky Full of Stars' by Coldplay was playing. It was midway into the song, the chorus part.

You shrieked, as Tadashi unexpectedly sang.

"'Cause in a sky, 'cause in full of stars," his voice got cracked a little as he tried to sing in the high notes, "I think I saw you!"

You laughed, and watched him, amused. Tadashi didn't sound good singing at all, his pitch was constantly changing. It was raspy one moment, then sounded like a boy before puberty the next.

He took a turn sharply, and the city's bright lights were beginning to come into view.

"'Cause you get lighter, the more it gets dark. I'm going to give you my heart." He sang more softly, though you still laughed loudly.

He grinned as he seen your eyes light up in happiness, and because of the many lights from the outside shining in your eyes.

"And I don't care, go on and tear my apart, and I don't care if you do!"

You had calmed down, and simply looked at him now. Your eyes were twinkling, and the smile on your face seemed like it was going to touch your ears.

Tadashi stopped singing, and glanced over at you before finding a parking space near a city fair.

"Why do you know the whole song?" You inquired, putting your hand at the door handle.

"I like it a lot, and especially love it now. GoGo hates when I sing that loud." He informed you, and then got out of the car.

There were many cars parked around the green car, couples and friends walked by you going to the same place. The largest thing, the ferris wheel lit in yellow and red lights.

"My family and Aunt Cass is so going to kill you." You laughed, looking at the time on your phone.

It wasn't that late, but you could tell that by the time you went home that it would be.

"I know," Tadashi pouted, "I'm just going to say you made me do this, saying you were pretending to cry because you were so sicking tired of your home." He teased.

"For someone who was very funny in the car, you're not very funny right now." You countered, crossing your arms and walking ahead of him. You weren't actually that annoyed, you just thought that it wasn't funny for him to mock you like that.

Tadashi groaned, and bent back a little in slight frustration due to your sudden change of mood.

Then he jogged to your side, taking out his wallet to buy tickets at the ticket stand.

"Oh, jeez, I didn't know I had to bring money. I'm so sorry!" You exclaimed with a frown.

"It's fine, I just got you upset too, this will be my apology." Tadashi stated, however he was actually planning to pay for you from the start.

"You sure? I swear I'll pay you back then!" You responded, patting your back pocket to check if you did have any money with you. You had only your phone and a few crisp dollars.

The two of you got into the long line.

Tadashi shrugged, "Whenever you want." He mumbled, taking out three twenties.

Your eyes went wide, not expecting it to be that much. You haven't gone to a fair, carnival, any entertainment event like this since you were younger, so you didn't really know what the typical prices were.

The line moved quickly, and soon the two of you were in front of an old man that happily took the money and gave you two red bands.

"How come everyone else has raffle tickets?" You asked, twisting your arm to inspect the band around your wrist.

"Oh, that's because I bought us bands where we won't have to worry about running out of tickets for the night." Tadashi answered, stuffing his wallet away.

You nodded your head, and then followed closely next to Tadashi into the fair.

The scent of mud, strong cologne, and some sweat entered your nose. It was not a good mix, and you scrunched up your nose in displeasure.

"Yeah, I never liked that smell either." Tadashi laughed.

There were many rides around, some made you shiver in fear when you came across it.

"Let's go on this one!" Was the only thing Tadashi said to you majority of the time, tugging on your arm constantly. You enjoyed the rides, but you eventually got tired.

Tadashi noticed this, and he nudged your arm as the two of you waited in line for a ride he picked.

"What's wrong? Is it too cold?" He inquired, his voice laced with deep concern and worry. It did get a bit windier.

You shook your head, and your toes touched each other. You didn't know if you wanted to tell him, feeling that it would ruin his great mood. So you forced a smile and shook your head again.

Tadashi frowned, and then sighed.

"Liar, let's go on a ride you want to go on then. I guess I was too obsessed with showing you the rides that I thought were fun, instead of thinking if you would like it." Tadashi admitted.

You suppressed a grin coming up, and looked around you.

"Can we go on that one then?" You pointed your index finger at a the teacup ride. Riding on those large teacups, spinning around as your dad looked sick, it was one of your clearest childhood were only kids lined up, but you didn't really mind.

"Really?" Tadashi gasped.

You nodded your head proudly, not feeling ashamed.

However, you were surprised because Tadashi's hand turned into a fist and and he pumped it forward and back with an excited grin on his face.

"I thought I'd never go on that again!" He shouted, and then took your hand, running to the ride.

The two of you waited in line behind a small group of children. Tadashi looked more excited than you did, and you giggled at his glimmering eyes and uneven grin.

He directed his eyes to you, and raised his eyebrows.

"My mom and dad, we use to ride on these when I was little." He explained to you, even though you never asked.

"Really? Me too. My dad would go pale, and my mom would yell at him to turn the wheel because I wanted to go faster." You laughed lightly, a vivid picture in your head.

In your memory, everything was blurry outside of your teacup, and you couldn't hear anything but your mom's voice and your laughter. You smiled to yourself, unaware of Tadashi watching you.

At last, Tadashi and you were in front of a man with a height stick in his hand. He glanced up at Tadashi, down at you, and then the bands around your wrists. He moved to the side, letting you two past the metal fences and onto the platform with still teacups on it.

There were kids picking their colorful teacups, and Tadashi actually let some kids take the one you two had your eyes on. It was the prettiest teacup there, painted yellow with gradient flowers and lace patterns.

Tadashi and you ended up sitting in a teacup with scratched seats and the faint scent of sweat. It was unpleasant, so you sighed quietly.

"I should have never let those kids take the other teacup, sorry." He said, hearing your sigh.

You leaked back, and waved your hand to dismiss his apologize.

"Don't be sorry, at least we still got a teacup, right?" You smiled, dropping your hand and then crossing your arms.

The man with the height stick shouted something, but neither you or Tadashi were listening. Most likely, he said something about the ride starting because that was what happened. The teacups started to spin slowly, and Tadashi and you pulled on the wheel to rotate your own teacup.

You didn't realize how much stamina Tadashi had because even after you rested your arms to watch everything blur around you, he still kept going with no visible struggle.

"You're really good at this!" You shouted with big eyes and hands that gripped onto the edge of the seats.

"Gee, thanks!" Tadashi grinned and pushed himself harder, while thinking, _Oh my gosh, my arms are about to fall off._ _They are going to go flying off any second now._

You put your hands back around the wheel, and began to spin again. The ride was ending soon.

At one unexpected point, Tadashi's hat almost flew off and you laughed, watching his frantic, bewildered eyes and hands cling onto the blue baseball cap. Neither you or him were spinning anymore, the ride was already gradually slowing down since the time was up.

You were still laughing and he pouted.

When it was over, you and him hopped off and left the ride along with the other kids. Tadashi had his cap back on, and he unwrinkled his shirt.

"That was the most fun I had in well, forever!" You beamed, skipping along Tadashi's side.

"I almost lost my hat and hands, what are you talking about?" He groaned, and then looked around him. Most of the rides you and him already went on, leaving the ferris wheel and a few others.

You seen him looking at the ferris wheel and you shook you head with a nervous chuckle.

"We are not going on that cheesy thing, don't get any ideas." You told him. Movies taught you that ferris wheels were meant for lovers, or friends of pure innocence. You were not friends with Tadashi like that, your crush for him was growing rapidly, especially during this time. What you two had done was already enough for you, and maybe it was time to go home.

You checked the time on your phone, and felt disappointed. It wasn't even late, it was merely ten-thirty.

"I wasn't," Tadashi sheepishly said, "Course not."

The smell of fried dough suddenly grew stronger as you two walked together closer to the food area in silence, and your stomach grumbled. Immediately, you were embarrassed and you clenched your stomach.

Tadashi didn't laugh or comment on it, and simply asked if you wanted to eat some.

"Yeah, but this will be on me." You stated, making your way to the food stand already. The smell was so strong, it sort of gave you a headache. Not only was the aroma of fried dough there, there was also Dr. Pepper soda and smoked chicken.

"You sure?"

You nodded your head, and took out your money. The powdered fried dough plus drink would total up to eight dollars, and you had ten dollars in your hand. You mentally thanked the heavens, otherwise this would had been awkward.

While you ordered, Tadashi searched around for a table to sit at.

"Here you go, Ma'am." The person said, glancing at you one time before handing you your plate and your cup of .

With the plastic plate balancing on one hand, and the cup gripped in the other, you tried to find Tadashi in the crowd of tables and people. A lot of people had black hair, or wore a blue hat, and you struggled to search for him without almost dropping your plate.

It was actually him who found you, and he chose a table you swore you walked by at some point.

"You were looking like a loss kid, and I tried yelling out your name. Didn't you hear me?" Tadashi asked, taking a seat.

You sat across from him, and shook your head while tearing off a piece fried dough. The moment you put it in your mouth, you squealed quietly like a child. It was warm, and the powder sweetened the taste even more.

"I eat fried dough so much, I forgotten how to enjoy the taste. Is it that good to you? You look like you're enjoying it a lot." Tadashi remarked, and ripped off a small piece himself.

"I haven't ate this since I was a child, Tadashi." You clarified, taking a very tiny bite.

Usually around your family, or at home, you would eat more like a slob. Out of habit, because that was what you grew up seeing. Your dad ate like a cow, and always had stains at the corner of his lips. However you were out now, and you were doing your best to eat neatly. That meant you chewed very slowly, in hope to avoid looking like an animal.

Whereas across from you, Tadashi talked while chewing.

He noticed the strange disgust on your face, and said, "I usually don't talk while eating. I just want to talk to you while we have the time."

That was when you checked the time again, it was almost eleven. You gasped, and swallowed down the half chewed dough.

"I got to get home soon. My parents are so going to lecture me, this is the latest I have ever stayed out." You blurted, only to realize that what you were saying made you sound like a complete loser.

It was just you out of the two that thought that, Tadashi was actually focusing on your parents lecturing you.

"Crap, that means they'll probably yell at me too, plus Aunt Cass." He hastily ate the rest of the fried dough, because you were standing up ready to go already.

After he threw away the plate, he carried the cup and sipped on it while walking with you.

"Hey, how come you don't go out a lot? You have your own moped." Tadashi reported, walking with long strides. There were less people now, just groups of friends and couples. There were no kids visible, but the distant laughter of children could be heard. Tadashi directed his face and eyes to you.

"Was never the adventurous type, I guess." You answered, glancing at him.

"I see, I see." Tadashi continued to sip on the soda through the red and white straw.

"But I think I'm slowly turning into one." You smiled, turning your head to look right at him.

When Tadashi heard you say that, he bit down onto the straw and grinned at you, showing his perfect, white teeth. It looked cute, he looked adorable.

You giggled at him, and tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear.

As you did so, everything around you and behind you became blurry to Tadashi. You were the brightest thing at the moment to him, the yellow circles of light behind you seemed to get dimmer.

The way you glowed compared to everything else in Tadashi's eyes meant more than it should have. That was when Tadashi knew that he was absolutely messed up.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I was going to say f*cked up, but majority of my stories don't involve heavy swearing, or barely any swears. Keeping it somewhat PG for now. Excuse my mistakes, I don't have time to proofread it! There was so much fluff, but drama is rolling in soon. :-)

**Feedback, please!**


	9. Last Ride Home

**09. Last Ride Home**

* * *

><p>When you and Tadashi entered the car, both of you guys sat there in complete silence for a very long time.<p>

You felt your phone vibrate at one point when you received a text message from your mom, and it stated in all caps that if you weren't home in an hour, you would be in big trouble.

"Are you okay?" You asked him. He didn't respond, so you rested your head on the humid window, and your hands hovered over the vents that blew out cool air.

Tadashi had only stuck the key into ignition, but hadn't twisted it yet. His fingers were still on the key, and it shook a little. A great deal of turmoil sunk into him, and he was beginning to get a massive headache.

All of a sudden, the sound of glass breaking resonated in his ears. He winced, and his eyes frantically travelled around him. A car parked in front of his car turned on, the headlights glaring.

"Whoa!" You shouted, and then brought your hands onto his forearm, "What's wrong? Do you have a migraine? Want me to drive?" You questioned, gingerly pressing your fingers against his skin.

He flinched as you did that, and as you slowly lifted up your fingers one by one, you could see why.

A greenish-yellow small bruise that you hadn't noticed before revealed itself under the lights of the other car, and you frowned. That was when you recognized another one on his other arm, at the crook of his elbow.

It was fresher, and larger, lavender colored with a yellow surrounding.

"How did you get these? Are you alright?" There were tiny beads of sweat forming near his hairline, and you could tell that he was more than just afraid.

"I got them while working out." He quickly said, and then turned the key. The car roared with life, and your frown deepened.

"Stop." You demanded, putting your hand on top of his and then spinning the key back so the car would turn off. Your skin was soft, and the moment Tadashi felt the warmth from it, he gulped.

It was so soothing, your skin calmed him down instantly. Like a mother caressing her young son, that was what he was feeling with you.

If he were to chose any medicine for his anxiety, he'd chose you. And ironically, that was what shook him up the most.

How had you never noticed them before? They were so visible now, the more you looked at them, the more they popped out. That was when you noticed he had his baseball tee sleeves rolled up.

"Who hurt you?" You inquired angrily, and then pulled back your hands.

"No one, just no one. It was me, I already told you. I was at the gym and the..." His voice halted when he noticed your expression. Your eyes squinted, and your eyebrows furrowed together in aggression.

"Whoever it is, I will beat them up for you! I swear on it, Tadashi. They won't hurt you anymore, I won't let them. Who did it?" You emphasized the word 'who' to prove how determined you were.

Now, Tadashi truly had no idea what to do.

You really did look like you could kill someone right then and there, your [e/c] eyes seemed ablaze, and your hands had rolled into a fist.

"It's not your business, [Y/N]. Besides, it's nothing. Stop worrying about me." Tadashi spoke, and then moved his eyes away from you. His hand twisted the key forward, and it turned on.

Your eyes went soft, and your cheeks were flushed. You couldn't bring yourself to direct your eyes away from him, actually feeling them begin to burn up.

"Let's just go home, [Y/N], let's not talk about this anymore. I don't want to talk to you anymore." He mumbled, and right away he regretted his word choice, but didn't take it back.

Immediately, you felt betrayed. You knew that you were invading his privacy, not even knowing him for that long, yet you felt like he had turned his back on you. You thought Tadashi would had trusted you by now, your only intention was to help him. It was like he patted you on the back roughly saying words along the lines of, "That's enough for you, that's enough for the both of us. It was a good game, at least you tried. Maybe you should try another team?"

Tadashi knew that all you wanted to do was help, however he couldn't even bring himself to glance at you. You were still staring at him, biting your upper lip so hard that it could've bled by now.

Neither of you two said anything else for the rest of the ride to your house, and he parked the car at the same spot it was at before.

"I got to get Aunt Cass and Hiro." Tadashi stated, getting out of the car first than you.

As he rushed into your house, you lagged behind. Your feet were practically dragging against the pavement, and your hands swayed a little at your sides.

When you entered the house, Aunt Cass was already slipping on her shoes and Hiro yawned as he zipped up his jacket.

Your dad was carrying the two kids into their rooms, and your mom skipped out of the kitchen with a plastic bag in her hand. She greeted you as she seen you, though the smile on her face was gone when she seen your lips in a line and your eyes gazing down at the floor.

At last, the Hamada family had their shoes on and jackets.

Aunt Cass hugged your mom and then you, whispering in your ear, "I'll see you on Friday, right? No work for you tomorrow."

You nodded your head, and forced a smile so that when she pulled you away, that was what she would see.

"Alright, bye, [Y/N]! Thanks for having us over, and tell Danny and Lilly they can come over sometimes if they want." Hiro told you with a grin, before walking out behind Aunt Cass.

Tadashi and you shared a look, one side of his lips went up, and that smile of yours from before never left. That was all, and then he also left.

The door shut with a slam, and your mom had her hands at her hips as you spun around. She wanted to lecture you, but didn't. The tired look on your face always caused a pain in her chest and made her go soft on you, because she never wanted to see you so exhausted.

"Go wash your face, and get to rest. I'll bring in some warm milk for you too, it'll be right at your desk when you come out of the bathroom." Your mom informed you, and then walked back into the kitchen.

She was right, that was probably the best thing for you. You did as told, and went into the bathroom. The lights flickered on, and you stood in front of the sink for a very long time.

Your middle and index fingers subconsciously went to the back of your right hand, and then glided up to the middle of your forearm. Where one of Tadashi's bruises were. Your pressed your fingers down, eventually curving your fingers so that your nails would stab against your skin instead. When you felt the light pain, you frowned.

You did the same thing to the crook of your elbow, and then pondered, _How many more does he have? Are they hidden under his pants, under his shirt? If he has two that he was already trying to hide, there has to be more._

Tadashi's smile appeared in your mind, and you became frustrated and angry. At the person who hurt him, at him, and at yourself. To think that Tadashi didn't deserve this simply because he was merely kind was an underestimate. He was not just kind, he was sincere, intelligent, brilliant, supportive, adventurous, every single thing imaginable in a wonderful person.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and you turned on the water right away.

"The milk is on your desk, [Y/N]. I'll be in my room if you need me, goodnight, angel. Make sure you sleep early!" Your mom shouted, and then dashed off.

You took in a deep breath, and then bent down to splash water on your face.

The cold water sent chills down your spine, and you had a feeling that you wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

* * *

><p>Tadashi laid on his bed, eyes facing up at the ceiling. Eventually, he had to close his eyes because he was seeing your eyes on the ceiling. Burning through him as they stared back at him. Even then, with his eyes tightly shut, he still seen you.<p>

A beautiful night that ended so terribly. It was bittersweet.

Hiro was snoring, and he could hear Aunt Cass snoring downstairs. The whole world was asleep, except him. Tadashi believed that you were probably asleep too.

It was suddenly quiet, Hiro's snores became muffled as he turned to lay on his stomach, with his mouth on the pillow.

Tadashi sighed, and then moved his hand to above his heart. His heartbeat was quick, and he felt like it was racing against his mind. All kinds of thoughts were coming to him, and your face and voice was the only one that stayed for a very long time.

A pang of guilt rushed over to him, and his breath became shaky. The sudden look in your eyes when he told you that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, and when he also slipped out that he didn't want to talk to you anymore, it wouldn't go away from his mind.

He created a new you in his head, with your pained eyes from the car and the forced smile back at your house. He put those both on your face, and oddly enough, he had never thought of anything so beautiful.

No, not beautiful. Sadness on you was not beautiful. More of he never thought of anything so strong.

Your eyes were dim when he said that, and it seemed like you were going to cry. It seemed like you were going to cry when you looked at him one last time back at your house. But you didn't.

So strong, you carried the world on your back and yet, he had never witnessed you become to quiet and sad.

Tadashi did that to you, and now he felt so ashamed. He told you that he would give you a new world, something you had never experienced before. That was not what he meant, that was not what you deserved to feel.

"[Y/N]." He mumbled very quietly, and then brought his right hand down to his ribcage, poking at an area that hurt every time he put pressure on it. A new bruise forming.

A new voice came into his mind, and it tearfully screamed, "_What do you think you're doing? Going out with her like that? Do you realize how that makes me feel, how could you be so selfish?_"

His eyes were still closed, he hadn't opened them yet. He didn't want to, in fear that something would be hovering overing him with angered eyes.

Without full awareness, he brought the blanket above his skin, and exhaled a heavy breath. If he could get to sleep already, he wouldn't have to worry about this.

However, this night would be just like the other nights. Restless, miserable, and painful.

* * *

><p>The kids were screaming, and fortunately, you weren't woken up by it, because you never went to sleep. The skin under your eyes drooped heavily, and you stretched your arms.<p>

Your laptop burned your thighs and you unplugged the charger out.

Some part of you kept on thinking Tadashi was going to call you, to make plans with you since it was your break day. That piece of you was also the part that when you were eleven thought that you were going to get a pet and instead you got a new jacket and shoes that lit up. That part of you was completely unreliable, it was the hopelessly hopeful part of you.

"I don't need him anyways, that idiot." You grunted, taking the laptop and blanket off your legs.

The coldness in the air hit your heated skin, and you threw the blanket back onto you. Outside of your room was quiet now, and then you heard the door slam shut.

Your family had gone out, to drop off the kids and then work.

Your phone was at your thigh, and although you knew there wasn't going to be anything, you checked anyways.

It was blank, and even though you expected it to be, it still hurt. You were never the social type, so you should had been use to this by now. Not many people had your number, yet it felt weird.

The memory of wide-eyed Tadashi and the bruises on his skin replayed in your head, and you shook your head as if it would shake away the memory too.

You didn't want to imagine it, however you thought of someone hitting him. Yelling at Tadashi, and his eyes watery as he whimpered for them to stop.

It was all too much for you to bear, you had felt huge deal of stress before. You felt exhaustion, anxiety, hopelessness all at once many times before, and here this was making you feel so small. Making you feel so weak, to the point of where tears brimmed the corners of your eyes.

When had Tadashi become so important to you? When did the thought of him hurting, made you feel such sorrow? His voice was the only sound that repeated in your head now, the way he cheered out your name when he seen you. His jokes, and the way he told you about his parents.

Trembling, you brought your phone chest with your lips quaking.

You weren't going to cry, you weren't going to let this get to you. You were always a person that wore armor over their chest, and ran with a shield in their hand.

You couldn't recall when exactly was the last time you cried due to the ache in your chest like it was now.

Your legs bent and your bare knees smacked against each other. You dropped your phone onto your hip, and it bounced off onto the bed. Then, you buried your face into your hands.

The palms of your hands started to feel wet, and you knew that you were no knight in shining armor. You couldn't help him, you couldn't even help yourself.

"I don't need him anyways." You repeated to yourself, but you couldn't bring yourself to believe it. You didn't need him, however you wanted him. A few more times you said that to yourself, until you finally came to a conclusion.

With tears that still stung, you brought your face up and stared at the wall ahead.

"But he needs me." It wasn't out of the fact that you really liked him, although unsure if he felt the same, it was out of the fact that he did need you. No one would ever know about those bruises unless they found out the way you did, and even then he probably wouldn't confess.

You would have to be that person that helped him, and you were very determined to be so.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hmm, who is Tadashi's abuser? (It's a bit obvious, but if not, that's even better!) Guess we'll find out in the next chapter. :-) Haha! But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!

**Feedback, please!**


	10. A Violent Silence

**10. A Violent Silence**

* * *

><p>The morning was over, and you hadn't left your bed ever since your break down earlier. The morning breath taste lingered on your tongue, and you kept drinking old water to wash it down any time it became almost overbearing. Your stomach had chose many moments to growl, but when the time hit exactly 1 in the afternoon, it bellowed and you could have sworn an animal lived in you.<p>

That was the time you decided that it was best to get up, rinse your face and brush your teeth and hair, then make a quick breakfast. You didn't have much of an apetite, however you knew that your body needed to eat.

Groggily, you got off your bed, went out to the hallway and into the bathroom. There was water around the sink, and as you bent down to splash your face, your t-shirt touched it and got wet.

You hummed to yourself, the song from last night, although you had forgotten the words. Tadashi's voice singing it entered your head, but they became muffled and unrecognizable before your brain could fully translate them.

After you dried your face, you were wide-awake.

The smell of remaining honey and cinnamon floated around from the kitchen, and it drew you in. There were mildly burnt pancakes on a plastic plate for you, with cold coffee next to it. You assumed it had been laying there, waiting for you from the moment your parents left the house. Which was hours ago.

You ate it all anyways, eating it right there as it laid on the counter. No syrup, because opening the fridge would just make you colder. The house was already cold enough.

"Why is it so cold?" You gave a long sigh, and slowly put a smile on your face. There was nothing joyful at the moment, you were still shivering and the pancakes were tasteless without syrup. The smile was to brighten you up, since you were told that simply smiling could bring the mood up if done a lot.

Once you were done, you threw away the plastic plate, and gulped down the coffee. It was bitter, and you knew that your dad made it because he loved to drink bitter coffee. You still drank it all, and carefully put the mug into the sink.

You needed to distract yourself, because the thoughts of Tadashi wouldn't go away. As you washed the dishes, you imagined how Tadashi would have splashed you with water and sang some song off-key.

"'Cause you're a sky, you're a sky full of stars." You hummed, and then blinked a few times as you realized what you were singing. However you couldn't stop, the song was on replay in your head. The more you thought of the lyrics, the more you thought about Tadashi, and by then you couldn't stop thinking.

You kept singing, until you reached a certain point in the song. That part was when Tadashi's voice gotten softer, and he sang in almost a whisper.

"I'm going to give you my heart," you crooned, "And I don't care, go on and tear me apart."

The warm, salty tears were edging at your eyes, and you wiped them away before they could come down your cheeks. This was not going accordingly to your break day plan, which was to sit in bed all day while surfing the internet. Recently, nothing had ever went as planned.

Ever since you began working at the Lucky Cat Cafe, everything in your life became chaos. A slide down a snowy hill until you realized it was a mountain. You only started working their to pay for your supplies and to help your home. You didn't work expecting to have the Hamada family get close to yours, to stay out until eleven at night with Tadashi, to find the injuries on him, and especially not to fall in love with him.

* * *

><p>Tadashi got a total of three hours of sleep, and was awoken by Hiro's shoving. Hiro's hands pushed at his painfully sore shoulders, and he woke up with a pant.<p>

"You alright? You were sweating so much and moving around every thirty seconds!" Hiro stated, and then his lips pinched in as Tadashi weakly sat up.

Tadashi's shirt dragged more to the side, revealing his bare shoulder and collar bones. Prominent collar bones, with a claw marks near it, going all the way to his back.

"She did it again, didn't she?" Hiro asked, concern thick in his voice.

The instant Tadashi heard the pain in Hiro's voice, his face pinched in together and he let out an unsteady breath. He brought one hand to his eyes, and couldn't say anything.

"It hurts so bad. My whole body hurts." Tadashi cried out, feeling the need to say more but the words choked at his throat.

Hiro dropped down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around his older brother. No words exchanged, and the only sounds were Tadashi's sobbing. This had been going on for weeks now, and Hiro had tried to help. But Tadashi threatened that if he did, he would never forgive Hiro. It was a hard decision, and it was even harder as Hiro complied.

"I didn't mean to get her jealous, I thought she would be okay with it. She said she was sorry, but why did she hurt me again?" Tadashi desperately questioned, eyes half-open while more tears came out.

"She apologizes you through what? Sex?" Hiro inquired, pulling away from him gently.

Tadashi's eyes grew big, and he rolled his shoulders back as they tensed up even more. It was the first time he heard Hiro say that, although Hiro was a lot smarter than he would ever know. Also, at this point, nothing surprised him too much. Besides you.

"[Y/N] knows about it too." He whispered, then Hiro and him made eye-contact.

There was a certain type of sadness in Hiro's eyes that Tadashi known them all too well. Hiro had those eyes on the anniversary of their parents' death, on the time before he got accepted into SFIT, on the days Tadashi came home with new injuries. It also reminded him of your eyes, which made matters worse.

Once again, you came into his mind. His hands dropped onto his lap, and then lowered his eyes down to his hands. It was always easier for him to direct his eyes away from reality instead of facing it.

But his hands were pink with imprints from his wrinkled bedsheets and blankets when he had slept.

"She seen the bruises," Tadashi started, pressing his thumb nail against the skin between the index finger and thumb, and then continued, "She was so angry, so worried. I had never seen anyone so upset. Her face was pink and I swore she was going to cry," he chuckled shamefully, "and I. . .I made her want to cry."

Hiro frowned, but then replaced it a small, comforting smile instead.

"I'm sure that she's doing fine, Tadashi. Have you tried talking to her?" He asked, raising his eyebrows even though Tadashi still hasn't brought his eyes back up yet.

Lately, Hiro had to be the strong one out of the two. Tadashi had spent most of his life masquerading his pain with smiles that came along with blank eyes, and it took awhile for Hiro to recognize it but when he did, it hit him.

At last, Tadashi's swollen eyes moved up from his hands and met Hiro's eyes.

"I think it's best if we stop being friends." He quietly said, his voice was almost inaudible. It was a lie, every single word he spoke was a wretched lie. Tadashi didn't want that at all, but someone else did. It was best if he did as told, for his safety and yours. Somehow, you had seeped into a crack in his heart that he kept hidden. A tiny crevice not meant to be there but after he had endured so much, it formed. And because of that, he was afraid of letting you go. Terrified that if you were gone, he'd be left with the same crack again.

"It'll be good for the both of us. Besides, if I hung out with her anymore then I'd"—Tadashi's voice cracked—"Never mind."

The old blankness in Tadashi's eyes had returned, yet this time it didn't come alone. What it brought back with it made Tadashi's chapped lips curled downwards, and his body felt numb. The tears weren't coming out anymore, but the need to piled up in him. Perhaps it was the emptiness, or a fascination being abandoned. A bird going back into its cage.

With much difficulty, Hiro kept looking at Tadashi. Why did the worst things happen to the best people? The mere glint from the upcoming tears in Tadashi's eyes caused Hiro to let out an exasperated breath.

"I hate her." He growled, his hands rolled into tight fists and he ground his teeth.

"Who?" Tadashi questioned, seeing that it could be two people. It was unlikely that it would be you, but there was still that chance.

"You know who." Hiro seethed, "All she has done was hurt you. And you won't do anything about it! You won't let me do anything about it, and do you understand how hard it is to see you like this? You told me that you would handle this, and that you'll be okay, but you're obviously not."

The tiredness in Tadashi weighted him down as Hiro spoke, and he fell back onto the bed. He was beyond sad, he was far from exhausted, the distance he wanted to be from where he was at that second was further than the moon and back. It was difficult for him to admit, however Tadashi knew that it was his fault. The courage to get help came with risks, and he was too much of a coward.

"Am I a bad person, Hiro? Be honest." Tadashi sniveled, bringing his hand to his forehead.

When his eyes reached the ceiling, he realized that the sun was up. The sunlight shined through the window, touching the end of his blanket, and a little bit past his side of the room. Dust was visible, and it floated around. He hadn't acknowledged the weather until now, and he found it quite relaxing.

Hiro wasn't sure how to respond exactly. He wasn't too good with words, struggling to say something without worrying. Always shy, frightened. Also, he felt like his response would either break or make Tadashi. Though, that wasn't the case at all. Tadashi was already broken, and it was going to take a lot more than some words of sympathetic support to fix him.

Hiro cautiously selected his words before answering.

"I think you're a really good person, Tadashi," he paused for a moment, "It's just that a lot of bad things have happened to you."

Several silent seconds followed after Hiro's answer, and Tadashi's was speechless. He didn't know what to say, because no one had ever told him that before. No one had ever explained to him in just a couple of words that Tadashi was still a good person, even if his life wasn't so good.

"Though you do smell pretty bad right now." Hiro joked, while scrunching up his nose.

Tadashi laughed lightly, and then got the will to swing his legs to the side of the bed, sitting up. With his hands holding onto the bed, he exhaled out a deep breath and slowly stood up. His legs still hurt, so he swayed slightly, having to rest his shoulder against the wall to hold himself up.

Hiro stood up, and lifted up Tadashi's hand by the wrist, wrapping it around his shoulders.

"I'll help you this one time, but that's it." Hiro said, and then the two started to walk to the stairs. Tadashi had a grin on his face, because that wasn't the first time Hiro had said that.

* * *

><p>Time seemed to have drifted by in your oblivion, and now it was almost eight. Eight o'clock was when your whole family came home. You only had a little bit of alone time left, and you weren't too sure on how to spend it. You had already wasted majority of it laying in bed, taking naps every now and then.<p>

Consequently, the more naps you took, the more tired you felt and the messier you appeared.

Maybe your family coming home soon was not such a bad thing, you needed company. You needed your dad to joke on your hair becoming a nest, and Lilly asking if she could fix your hair for you. It was important to taste your mom's delicious cooking again, because the only taste on your tongue was bitterness and something else that you couldn't put your finger on yet. But it was just as distasteful.

For the next fifteen minutes, you laid supine in bed. After a while, you got sick of staring at the ceiling, so you spun around and laid on your chest. You slid your arms under the pillow, and your lips rumbled against each other as you heaved out a breath.

Throughout the day, when you were awake, you kept checking your phone. At one point typed a message to Tadashi before deleting it.

He did say he didn't want to talk to you anymore, and he probably didn't even want to see you tomorrow. If that was true, Tadashi would wake up earlier and leave to class before you arrived to the cafe. If that was true, his reply to your text could be 'Who's this?' because by then he might've deleted your number already.

Yet, you were still insistent on stopping him from getting abused. It didn't matter if he pushed you away, as long as you found out who his abuser was. Whoever it was, you planned to stop them no matter what.

You pensively let out a single hum, narrowed your eyes, and scratched your chin. What if his abuser was someone strong and aggressive? What if they were a complete psychopath? Or someone so sweet that no one would ever believe you? Now that you thought about it more, there were many possibilities that this could go wrong.

You weren't too much of a fighter, never actually having problems with many people. The most aggressive you had ever gotten with someone was giving them a hostile glare, and a flick to Danny's forehead.

"Jeez." You mumbled, frustrated. It was more difficult than you thought, since now you were not just thinking about Tadashi in the plan.

Your train of thoughts were broken by a loud creaking coming from one of the doors in the house, and you knew that your family was home. Suddenly, laughter erupted throughout the house, and your heard heavy, quick footsteps heading towards your room. It was sort of terrifying, it reminded you of a bear chasing after you as you hid from it.

"Are you home, [Y/N]?" Lilly questioned right outside the door. She knew better than to barge in.

"Yep, I'll be out in a minute!" You responded, dragging yourself off the bed. Your left foot turned out to be asleep, and with each step you took, you felt that you would fall. You groaned, and finally opened the door.

Lilly had her hair in two tight braids, a red marker smudge next to her nose.

"We brought home some Chinese food, since Mommy said she was too tired to cook tonight." She reported to you, and then skipped away back into the kitchen. Her braids flopped against her shoulders and she started to sing a song you have never heard of before. As you watched her from behind, you smiled. Lilly was such a happy person.

Your mom wasn't in the kitchen when you entered, it was just your dad and Danny opening the cartons of food on the table.

"Where's Mom?" You asked your dad, and then take a seat right by your dad. His eyebrows knitted together so tightly, it was as if he had a unibrow.

"She has to rest, she's very tired, [Y/N]." He told you, not looking at you. On a typical day, even if your mom wasn't around, your dad would greet you with a smile. The corners of his eyes would crinkle because he would smile so wide, and the creases on his forehead would form. Now, the creases were already there but there was no smile.

It was clear that there was more to your mom than just tired, and you felt worried.

"Don't worry too much about it, your mom's just tired." Your dad reassured, glancing at you and then focusing back on the food. Now, you were anxious and extremely concerned. All the food opened, the plastic plates were placed on the table with forks next to them, and you remembered that you wanted to taste your mom's cooking.

"Mom?" You called out, dashing out into the hallway.

"I'm napping, [Y/N]." Your mom wearied, poking her head out of the bedroom door. Had she been standing there the whole time? There was no way she could had made it to the door right away if she had been resting.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to make some tea for you?" You inquired, raising your eyebrows and then walking to her.

Your mom nodded her head, and offered you a warm smile. She could tell how worried you were, and made the smile even wider.

"That'd be nice, [Y/N]. I'm going to go back to bed, just leave it on the nightstand." She told you, and then slowly, limply went back to the bed. You made sure she got tucked in before you went back to the kitchen to make her tea.

In the kitchen, Danny was slurping lo mien and your dad stabbed his fork into the beef. Lilly was eating cupcake, not paying attention to anything besides the sweetness on her tongue. No one talked, joked, or made a mess. Your family would have looked normal to strangers, but on your eyes, the picture was out of place without your mom. An absence of care.

You made the tea, and your dad didn't question you. Sometimes, you two believed that you were more of the parent than your mom or him. When you finished, you carried it back into your mom's room, and placed it on her nightstand.

You swore she was asleep, until her eyes opened and she jerked her head to face you.

"You ready for work tomorrow?" Your mom asked, and then sat up to sip her tea. The teacup slightly shook in her hand, and she gulped down the hot tea without a flinch.

"Yeah." You replied, shrugging your shoulders.

"You sure?" She questioned, and then brought the tea cup back onto the nightstand. A skeptical expression on her face, and you believed that maybe she knew more than you thought she did.

Again, you shrugged your shoulders while nodding your head. You weren't lying, you were full on ready for work, but were you ready to face Tadashi?

"Alright, now go eat dinner. Thank you for the tea, angel." She said, the smile back on her face and she lowered herself down to the bed.

You exited the room, shutting the door carefully to make sure she didn't hear anything. You stood outside the doorway for a few moments, a frown on your face and your eyes stared down at the floor.

At last, you walked back into the kitchen, and sat down between your dad and Lilly.

"You good, champ?" Your dad asked, chewing obnoxiously on what looked like to be chicken. He swallowed, and spun the lo mien on his fork.

"Yeah, pass me some lo mien, please." You said, and gave your plate to him. He dumped a large quantity of chicken, lo mien, and two egg rolls onto the plate, then handed it back to you.

It was silent again, yet that was good, because it gave you more time to advise your plan. Tomorrow, you were going to confront Tadashi. You were going to get to work earlier than usual, just in case he decided to escape before your arrival. And if he wasn't going to tell you then, you would bluff about reporting it to authorities. Then if he still didn't tell you, you would pretend cry and break down right then and there until he did.

Yep. That was the plan. In that moment as you slurped up the lo mien, it seemed like a pretty good plan.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** My apologizes for always including in a mother's love, I never really felt motherly love as much as I should have and.. I don't know. I haven't seen my mom in years. Also, I know I said I will keep it PG, and I mean, but more of PG-13 haha! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! (In case you haven't noticed, it usually takes a week for me to update.)

**Feedback, please!**


End file.
